More Players Have Entered the Arena
by LetYourStoriesOut
Summary: After the events of 'The Game is Up', our heroes are resting. It is Christmas time 2016 and the spirits are up... Until a new villain named Fire Ant enters the scene. Meanwhile, Gabriel Agreste gets visited by some 'old friends' mistaking him for Hawk Moth. Rated T but may change.
1. Fire Ant

AN: This story is a sequel to The Game is Up. If you haven't read that, I would advise you do as this story pretty much picks up where that story left off. With that, if you already read that, welcome back! I hope you enjoy this story.

* * *

On November 2nd 2016, Ladybug and Cat Noir finally found Hawk Moth with help from a new super, The Hornet AKA Liam Rejeter. In addition to him, they also found help in the previous Ladybug and Cat Noir: Marinette's Aunt, Bridgette Dupain and Liam's 21-years-older brother, Félix Rejeter. After they captured Hawk Moth's Miraculous, the man himself got away. Now, the police are hunting him down, but soon there will be more trouble...

 _Collège Françoise Dupont, December 19th 2016._

In Miss Bustier's class, Liam and Marinette had arrived for their lesson, but for the time being had to wait outside. Liam had brought some gifts for each student in the class. He didn't know that many of them, but he tried to give them gifts from what he had learned about them. The gifts were wrapped up and Marinette ad Liam placed them on the students' seats. Marinette was wearing her winter outfit, while Liam was wearing his second outfit that he wore when he fought Replay.

"So each one's got a gift?" Marinette asked Liam.

"Yeah. Even Chloe and Sabrina. The two I'm really looking forward to are Alix and Nathaniel."

"Why those two?"

"That day I fought Replay, people started bombarding me with praise. I was suffocating, but those two came to help me out. I was going to Adrien's to help him out. Big problem: Nino was supposed to come, but we left him behind." Liam chuckled. Marinette laughed. "Anyway, I hope people don't want to be my friends just because I got them these gifts. I want them to know me and then judge me."

"I'm sure they will."

"That's actually another reason why I like Nath and Alix, I became friends with them from that race with Alix and a fondness of Nathanael's drawings. I just wish he'd show them to yous."

Marinette smiled. The bell rung as the rest of the students showed up in their winter outfits. They stood and waited for Miss Bustier to let them in. She eventually opened the door and spoke to the students.

"Right, you can take the presents off your seats, but don't open them. We're gonna open them together. Everyone's got one." Every student went to their seats and picked up the presents so they could sit down. To her surprise, even Marinette had a present. When they were all seated, Miss Bustier spoke again. "Okay, go ahead." Everyone started opening their presents and gasps were heard throughout the room. "Who'd like to say what they got?"

"I got a camcorder!" Nino said.

"The newest skates!" Alix answered.

"The Shining DVD!" Juleka said.

"A letter from Prince Ali!" Rose squealed.

"Some of my drawings in frames." Nathanail whispered. "I know who got us these!" Everyone turned to face tomato head. "It was Liam!"

Everyone looked at Liam next to Nathanael, and he wasn't paying attention as he was listening to music through headphones. " _Now in my remains, a_ _re promises that never came._ _Set the silence free, t_ _o wash away the worst of me_ _."_ Liam felt his skull burning as if everyone was firing lasers at him. He looked up saw everyone looking at him. "What? It's Linkin Park."

"You got everyone these presents?" Alix asked.

Liam observed the class with his eyes. "Maybe."

"Thank you, bro." Nino answered.

"Oh, that was nothing! An apology for going off with Adrien and ditching you. Plus, I heard you were aspiring to make movies. It's not much, but it'll get you started. That letter was actually written by Prince Ali, I just had to ask. That Shining DVD was from a collection of Stanley Kubrick movies my brother owned. He had that and Full Metal Jacket twice. The new skates and the frames, I was looking forward to see your reactions."

"Why those in particular?" Nathanael asked.

"Because you two were the first two who I really... connected with when I came here. There was that race, the aftermath and then there was those drawings that Nathaniel did. Would you like to show them?"

Nathaniel held his frames to his chest and made his confession. "I didn't show anyone beforehand because I drew these with out anyone's permission. It's a few of us, myself included as alternate versions of our akumatized selves." Nathanael turned one of his drawings around to show everyone his interpretation of Timebreaker. She no longer had the helmet that she had worn, revealing Alix's pink hair. Instead she had black goggles with green circular lenses. Her costume had changed from a silky leather to cotton with her hands and forearms exposed. The hourglass symbol had changed from red to pink. Alix took one look at the drawing and was speechless. "The idea for Timebreaker and Bubbler here was to take what they looked like and find ways to show how they could look realistic, like Marinette could make these costumes if she got hold of the right materials. I mean no offence, Nino, but The Bubbler was not the most intimidating villain."

"He means you looked like a Happy Meal Toy." Liam interrupted. The class laughed, even Nino. Miss Bustier cut the students off.

"Okay, class. I hate to cut this short, but we do have to keep moving. So, I'd like to congratulate a few students. First off, Marinette, you've improved your attendance and punctuality the past few weeks, well done. The most improved student is Nathaniel. Well done, you've stepped up a lot."

"I owe it to Liam."

"Speaking of Liam, you and Lila have tied for best newcomer. That's out of the whole school. And finally, student of the year in this class goes to Max Kante. Congratulations, Max."

"Just doing what I'm supposed to."

"Right. Well, today we are going to-" BOOM! The building to the right of the school blew up in flames and some of the school was damaged. Windows blew apart and shards cut Mylene, Sabrina and Kim, whilst a piece of a window frame hit Juleka on the head and the ground shook hard enough to knock people off their seats. Alix and Nathaniel fell to the floor, Alix hitting her head. The fire alarm went off and Miss Bustier quickly assisted everyone in recovering and leaving the building, whilst all the other students and staff left through fire exits. The entire school population gathered at the park near Marinette's bakery. Seeing the carnage, Sabine and Tom came outside to try and calm people down. Mr Damocles soon addressed the staff and students.

"Okay, all teachers form a line side by side with some distance." The teachers complied and stood side by side with enough distance between them that the students could see who is who. "Now each class line-up in front of your teacher." Each class lined up in front of their teacher. "Right. Name Check. Miss Bustier, you first."

"Adrien Agreste." "Present."

"Chloé Bourgeois." "Present."

"Ivan Bruel." "Present."

"Alya Césaire." "Present."

"Juleka Couffaine." "Present."

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng." "Present."

"Mylène Haprèle." "Present."

"Max Kanté." "Present."

"Alix Kubdel." "Present."

"Nathaniel Kurtzberg." "Present."

"Nino Lahiffe." "Present."

"Rose Lavillant." "Present."

"Lê Chiến Kim." "Present."

"Sabrina Raincomprix." "Present."

"Liam Rejeter." "Present."

"Lila Rossi." "Present."

"All students accounted for, Mr. Damocles. Some of them did obtain injuries."

"Nurses!" Mr Damocles ordered. "Help Miss Bustier's students. Ms. Mendeleiev, roll call."

As Ms. Mendeleiev roll called her students, Liam was looking around at his classmates that were being seen to by the nurse. In between his deep breaths made visible by the cold, the mumbling crowds of students and ringing in his freezing ears, he could hear crying from behind him. Turning round, he spotted a young girl in a puffy coat and trousers. She was holding a white cane, showing that she could not see properly. Liam walked over to her.

"Are you okay?" Liam asked. The girl kept crying. "My name is Liam. What's yours?"

The girl started sniffling. "(Sniff-sniff) K-Krystal. (Sniff-sniff)" The girl kept looking straight forward.

"Okay, Krystal. What's wrong?"

"(Sniff) My brother. H-H-He's gone missing. He was w-w-walking around (Sniff) the park because I can't see, but now I don't know where he is!"

"Krystal, I'm gonna tell my teacher, okay. She'll help you. Okay."

"Okay."

Liam turned and stepped forward twice. "MISS BUSTIER!" Everyone turned to face Liam. "I need your help, please!" Miss Bustier ran over to him. "This girl. Her name's Krystal, she was with her brother, but she doesn't know where he is. We can't leave her here on her own."

"Right. Hello, Krystal. I'm Caline Bustier. I want to help you find your brother. Do you know when he went missing?"

Krystal started to calm down. She stopped crying, but still stuttered. "H-he told me to stay here. Th-that he saw something suspicious at a b-b-building. A-a few minutes lat-ter, there was this bang." Miss Bustier looked at Liam and sighed. At that point, sirens were coming round the corner. The firefighters had arrived to tackle the blaze.

* * *

The trucks drove to the corners of the building and stopped. Climbing out of the truck was Bridgette, Marinette's aunt and Tom Dupain's sister, in a firefighter suit and helmet. Seven other firefighter climbed out of the trucks, including the fire chief, distinguishable by his orange jacket.

"Heard it just blew up." The fire chief said to Bridgette. "Find the power generator to the building. The suppression system should've kicked in."

"Yes, sir." Bridgette responded. The brunette went to the side of a truck to put on an oxygen mask. One of the firefighters preparing the hoses spoke to Bridgette.

"Isn't that your brother and his wife over there?"

"Yeah. They must be helping the students. Chief thinks the power's been cut, could be arson."

"That's for your husband to find out when we've put it out."

"Boyfriend. I'm gonna search around the perimeter, see if there's an external generator." Bridgette, having put on an oxygen mask, ran as calmly as she could towards the fiery structure.

* * *

Back at the park, many students observed the fire, while Miss Bustier was still tending to Krystal as well as her students.

"Okay, Krystal. Let's see if anyone else has seen your brother. Liam, can you-?" Miss Bustier turned to talk to Liam, only to find that he was gone. "Liam? Liam?!"

At the first opportunity, Liam had snuck away. Hiding behind a dumpster in an alleyway. Liam uncovered his watch. "At least those pesky moths aren't chewing it anymore. Here we go." Liam tapped the lens of the watch and began his transformation into the Hornet. As soon as his transformation finished, he activated his wings and flew towards the building, the crowds cheering him when he arrived and some students including Alya, started filming with their phones. When he got there, he used the heat sensor glasses Bridgette had given him to see if he could find anyone in the building. There was one figure sat down, not moving an inch. "There's someone in there!" The Hornet saw Bridgette and flew to her. "This the generator?"

"Yeah. What are you doing, Liam?! Did anyone see you?"

"No. Can you fix it?"

"Yeah, the suppression system should start up now."

"I'm going in. There's someone trapped."

"No!"

"I'm supposed to be a superhero. I'm going."

Bridgette hesitated. "Ugh. Be careful!"

The Hornet nodded and flew to the front again. Seeing that the person was still in the building, he called down to the Firefighters. "There's someone in there! I'm going in." Hornet started flying towards a window when...

"SHOCKWAVE!" A seismic blast shot out of the building and hit the Hornet, sending him crashing into a wall. When he came around, the figure burst out of the building. "Paris, Hawk Moth may have been defeated, but every time you beat a disease, nature creates another one. I am Fire Ant, and I am here to stay! So who ruined my work?!" Fire Ant saw the firefighters, Bridgette now rejoining them. "Of course." Fire Ant pointed his arm at them and started his flamethrower. "Try fighting THIS!" Hornet came around and quickly threw himself at Fire Ant, knocking him to the ground and repeatedly punching his helmet. Fire Ant tried to put his feet on the Hornet's chest to blow him back, but the Hornet caught on, grabbed Fire Ant's foot and twisted it, causing Fire Ant to scream in pain and launch his jetpack, sending him into the air. "Ladybug and Cat Noir had Hawk Moth, you've got me! See you around!" With that, Fire Ant boosted off, the Hornet's wings too damaged to fly after him. When Fire Ant was gone, Bridgette and the Fire Chief walked over to the Hornet.

"Judging by your stature," The fire chief spoke. "You're just a kid."

"And judging by Fire Ant's stature," Hornet retorted. "So is he. He seemed to be after me. He's gonna attack again to lure me out and even if it's gonna kill me, it'll kill many innocents if I don't fight him."

"Well, he might have blasted you into a wall." Bridgette said. "But A, he needed to use his superpower to do that. He yelled Shockwave and B, you're standing up fine while he had to fly to escape because you beat him. You weren't even ready for a fight, but you still beat him. You did good. In fact, he caused all this damage. You kept him away from harming people. Now go wherever you got to get healed. But you know what?" Bridgette turned to the students. "This guy just saved us without LB or Cat Noir. I think he deserves a round applause." Bridgette started clapping, soon the rest of the Fire Crew clapped as well. The students started clapping and cheering for the hero. Underneath his mask, Liam was gleaming. "Now go and celebrate, pipsqueak!" The Hornet ran, but stopped and turned back. "I'm here when you need me!" The new hero ran again, back to the alley where he first transformed, and changed back into Liam. Liam ran back to the crowd and mingled with Alix, Nathaniel, Marinette, Adrien, Nino and Alya.

"Where did you come from?" Alix asked.

"I've been here the whole time."

"You okay?" Nathaniel asked. "You look out of it."

"Do I?" Liam's vision started blurring. "Wait, there it is. The explosion must have hurt me..." Liam started losing breath. "More than I thought..." Liam's legs gave in and he collapsed.

"Liam!" Marinette shouted, alerting the staff. Adrien pulled Liam into the recovery position and Nino checked Liam's breath.

"Thank god. He's breathing."

"Liam." Alya said as she closed Liam's hand around hers. "If you can hear me, squeeze my hand." Alya couldn't feel any pressure. The nurses came over as Liam started convulsing.

"Clear the area, please!" The nurses checked Liam over. "Right. We need to get this kid to a hospital."

* * *

AN: If it's not clear, Fire Ant's attack injured Liam more than Liam thought it had. He just lied that it was the initial explosion so that no one would know that he was fighting Fire Ant. Originally, Fire Ant was going to be named Bullet Ant, I changed it because I felt that it wasn't intimidating, but cringe-worthy. I'll let the jury decide if Fire Ant is better or not. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. The next one will take some time, but I will say that it will focus on the Hawk Moth problem and introduce more characters that were originally intended to be in The Game is Up. I hope I see you again. See you all later!


	2. Hospital Time

Liam started coming round and he could hear the voices of his classmates.

"Looks a right state," Chloe said. "Must have been the bang."

"No shit!" Alix answered. "I thought Juleka gave him a makeover while he was convulsing."

"Why don't we give you that makeover, Chloe?" Lila asked.

"And see what you look like?"

Liam spoke up. "Any makeover for Chloe would be better than looking like a banana in pajamas."

The students started cheering and laughing in joy (Chloe the exception), at both the fact Liam was awake and that his first words were a joke at Chloe's expense. Liam's vision started improving and he saw that he was in a bed with Alix sat on a chair backwards and leaning on the backrest on the left of the bed, Lila standing in the left corner facing off with Chloe in the right corner doing her nails, Marinette and Nathaniel sat in chairs on right and left sides of Liam's bed, and Adrien standing next to Marinette. Looking around, he saw that he was in a hospital room lying on a bed.

"How long have I been out?" Liam asked.

"6 hours," Marinette answered. "The school's been closed till January."

"Aw, man." Liam pushed himself up and sat up. "Did everyone's gifts survive?"

"Yeah," Alix responded. "Liam, we appreciate them but right now, we're more concerned about you. I mean, you've got a 'red-eye'. The white in your right eye's covered by blood, but I've had them before from skating injuries. They always look worse than they actually are and they're painless and have no symptoms. No impaired vision, no headaches. What we're confused about is how exactly did you get injured enough to collapse? You were one of the students furthest from the blast."

"It's..." Liam lied. "It's a bit of a blur. All I can remember was that I was assaulted after we got to the park."

"WHAT?!" Marinette screamed, startling everyone and causing Chloe to spill nail color on her clothes.

"You gotta be kidding me! Look at this mess, Marinette. Thanks a lot!" Everyone looked at Chloe with annoyance.

Marinette grew angry. "You're welcome! I mean, you've got to replace your clothes. Big deal. My uncle-in-law and my friend has got to deal with his injuries."

"Uh, Marinette?" Liam spoke. "I'm not your uncle-in-law. Félix and Bridgette aren't actually married. Though they might as well be."

"Thanks, Liam. And don't think this is the worst of it. You were the source of the racism towards Liam's friends from his old school."

"What racism? They kicked me out over nothing, they got what they deserved." As Chloe was about to bite Marinette's head off, the door knocked. Adrien walked over and opened it. Standing there were three boys. The first was an Asian boy with big, messy black hair wearing a hooded black tracksuit with a light blue stripe going from the left collarbone to the right torso, which continued on the trousers down to the right sleeve. The second was a dark-skinned boy with a buzz cut wearing a light blue beanie, a tracksuit with the same color, except for an X shape on the front, that was colored emerald green. The third boy had lighter skin than the second and appeared to be of Indian ethnicity. He had a crew cut hairstyle and wore a short-sleeve grey shirt over a navy long-sleeve shirt, light blue jeans and grey and silver shoes. He also carried a one strap backpack. The Asian boy spoke to Adrien.

"Is this Liam's room?"

"Yeah," Adrien answered.

"Oh!" Liam said. "Adrien, these are my friends. Let them in and I'll give the proper introductions." Adrien let the three of them walk in. "Wasn't expecting you so soon."

"Well, we came as soon as we heard." The Indian boy replied.

"Okay, where to begin. Everyone, these are my good friends. The 'X' man is Michael Goldsmith, he swears that surname is real. I will not comment. The guy with the strange stripe is Wilson Hikari, no I'm using your real and much better name, Milo Hikari."

"Do people still call me Wilson?" Milo asked.

"Bridgette does. And finally, the guy who, judging by his clothing, takes the cold weather like a champ, is Sami. Michael, Milo, Sami, these are my new classmates and friends. From left to right, we got Alix, Nathaniel, Lila, Adrien and Marinette."

"Hello." The trio said as they went around and shook hands with everyone. Noticing Chloe, Michael questioned Liam. "Who's she and why didn't you introduce her?"

"Two words: Mars Bar."

Michael turned slowly in shock. "Chloe Bourgeois!" All of Liam's classmates turned and faced Michael as he towered over Chloe.

Chloe looked up and saw Michael. "Ugh, you again?! What are you foreigners doing here, Mars Bar?"

Milo snapped. "We're Liam's friends!" Liam's classmates jumped. "We care about him to be here, what's your excuse?"

"Stuck here till my father sends my chauffeur. Didn't want to be in here."

"Then get out, you self-righteous cow." Sami retorted. "The door's right there. Go and find... Sabrina, is it? Go and yell at her for causing all your make-belief problems." Chloe stood up straight and walked to the door, but before she walked out, she turned to Marinette.

"You can expect the bill for these soon!" Chloe slammed the door behind her.

Everyone gave a breath of relief. Liam soon started talking. "It's good to see you guys. Can't wait to begin Side Swipe again!"

"Side Swipe?" Alix asked, puzzled.

"Our band. I play the bass, Milo does guitars, Sami uses the drums and Michael is the vocalist and also does guitars and piano. We should see if we can get you guys to see us."

Sami chuckled. "We got you something. We were gonna give you them on Christmas Eve, but we decided to give you them now." Craig opened his backpack and pulled out some graphic novels. Three for each one of them. Liam looked at them. Daredevil: Born Again, Daredevil: Yellow and Majestia: Global Meltdown.

"Thanks, Guys!"

"That's not the big thing. Open the Born Again book, first page." Liam opened the comic and out slipped an envelope. Liam gave an intrigued look. Even Liam's new classmates were as intrigued as Liam. Liam opened the envelope and read the letter aloud.

"To Whom It May Concern, I am writing on behalf of Bob Roth Records. Mr. Roth was impressed with your musical abilities and the demonstration of your engineering techniques and I am pleased to tell that..." Liam stopped to process what he saw on the paper. "We would like to offer you a deal to have your works released on the Bob Roth Records label!" Liam's classmates all gasped. Liam himself was in awe, then he saw that the paper had an inwards fold. "There's more!"

"We must have missed it."

Liam unfolded the paper and read out the rest. "In addition to this label, you have been cordially invited to perform at Jagged Stone's New Year's Party, alongside and by request of Mr. Stone himself! Please contact the number provided when you've decided. Yours faithfully, Penny Rolling!" Everyone gasped and squealed in joy.

"There's our chance to see yous live!" Marinette gleamed.

"And with Jagged Stone!" Nathaniel added.

Liam smiled. 'Man,' Liam thought. 'Never thought we'd get picked by Jagged Stone. Will I be healed enough in time?' Liam's face went sour when he realised something he forgot. 'Wait... That girl. Krystal. Is she OK? Did she find her brother?'

"Hey, Liam?" Michael said. "Hate to leave you buddy, but we gotta go christmas shopping."

"Don't let me stop yous having family time." Michael, Milo and Sami walked to the door and opened it and gave goodbyes as they walked out.

"Later, Scotty," Michael said.

"That's it! Keep up the illusion!" Liam responded.

"See you when you get out of here," Sami uttered.

"See you later."

Milo joked. "In a bit, dogshit!"

"I'll rip your tongue out!" Liam laughed sarcastically. "See you later!" Liam's bandmates closed the door behind them. As soon as they were gone, Liam asked his friends a question. "Okay, guys. Who else is here in the hospital?"

"Mylene, Sabrina, and Kim were all cut with shards of glass," Alix said. "They've been given bandages. I've been treated for my head and given painkillers and Juleka started throwing up when you were put in an ambulance. She was hit with a window frame. Rose is with her, crying her eyes out, poor girl."

"Sounds like most of you are okay. There is something else. Before I was assaulted, I found a girl in the park. 8 or 9 years old and blind. She told me she was looking for her brother who had gone somewhere before the fire happened. Miss Bustier was helping me with her, then I got attacked. Does anyone know what happened to her?"

The students looked at each other, then looked at Liam, shaking their heads.

"If Miss Bustier was helping her, then she'll know," Lila answered. "We just want you to rest. We've gotta go soon."

Liam smiled. "Thanks, guys." Liam suddenly became tired and out of breath. "Whoa." He said. "Suddenly, I feel like I'm passing out."

"The doctor said you'd be getting an automatic sedative," Nathaniel said. "We should go, let you rest."

"Okay." Everyone grabbed their bags and readied themselves to leave. Marinette got up and hugged Liam.

"Well done," Marinette whispered. "The Hornet defeated his first solo villain."

"You like him." Liam gave a little nod towards Adrien. "You know he likes you. Ask him out." Marinette blushed. She could never ask Adrien out. Could she?

Nathaniel shook Liam's hand, as did Lila and Adrien. But Alix did something no one expected. She hugged him but quickly moved back.

"Sorry." Alix rushed. "I don't know what made me do that."

"You must have needed it. Don't worry."

The class walked out, waving at Liam as they did so. Liam laid down again, before falling asleep. As Alix, Nathaniel and Lila headed down the stairs, Marinette and Adrien used the elevator.

* * *

Walking down the stairs, Lila walked faster and was out of sight. Nathaniel spoke to Alix.

"You've had that feeling too, haven't you?"

"What are you-?"

"Ever since the Evillustrator, I've never been able to draw. I remember trying my hardest to draw one of those heroes, but I just felt sick all the time."

"And it wasn't just a nauseous feeling. You wanted to end it, didn't you?"

Nathaniel choked. "Yes. M-my passion and I used it t-to h-hurt people. I tried to kill Chloe. Even if she's horrible, she doesn't deserve that."

Alix got angry at the reminder of Timebreaker. "Gee thanks. Lay the guilt of murdering..." Alix teared up. "All of y-you. Oh, god! How could I?" Alix fell to her knees, covered her face and burst into tears. Nathaniel knelt down and gently pulled Alix's hands away from her face, holding them in his own and staring at her.

"You didn't. Hawk Moth did. Those seconds of him talking, he rewires your brain and makes you think he's in the right. We're feeling the effects of what he's done."

Alix sniffled. "W-we should've fought back."

"We're normal people, he was a supervillain. When he was in my head, he showed me some horrifying things. The biggest one was Ladybug killing Marinette. He used our fears against us. Every time I picked up a pen, I saw that in my head. You saw something, didn't you?"

Alix nodded. "I didn't really see anything before I was transformed. But I keep having this nightmare." Nathaniel put his finger on Alix's lips.

"Let's get out of here and we can talk about it." Nathaniel got up and helped Alix to her feet and they walked away, Nathaniel's arm on Alix's shoulder. "How does Marinette's bakery sound?"

* * *

As they were having their heart-to-heart, Marinette and Adrien stood in the elevator, sweating from nerves. Marinette plucked up the courage to speak.

"A-Adrien?" Marinette tripped over her words. "I- was wonder-ring if you w-wanted to..." Adrien looked at Marinette. "...go to a movie or something sometime." Marinette couldn't prepare herself for rejection.

"Er..." Adrien said. "Yes, of course." So, Marinette didn't need to prepare for rejection. "The new Star Wars movie! That could be fun. I'll buy the popcorn." Marinette squealed in glee.

"If only I asked you sooner."

Adrien was confused. "Sooner?"

Marinette nodded. "Ever since that day you gave me the umbrella in the rain, I've had a crush on you. But, I was too scared to ask you on a date. Then, the day Ladybug and Cat Noir fought Hawk Moth..."

Adrien interrupted. "Liam told you I liked you. He saw me confess it to my dad." The blonde model giggled. "Oh, he helped me with some big problems. I never truly confronted my father about our problems for a year. One minute after he helps me, we're talking and my dad's changing back to who he was."

Marinette smiled. "He must get that from living with my aunt Bridgette and his brother Félix. If he hadn't told me about you, I'd probably still be stuttering. What would Chloe think?" At that point, the elevator stopped and the door opened, with Chloe stood there with a cup listening in.

"We're going on a date, Chloe can cry all she wants, she's not destroying it." Chloe dropped her cup and Adrien stared at her.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" The blonde diva shrieked. Adrien looked at Marinette.

"Let's go." Adrien and Marinette walked out of the elevator. Chloe chased after them.

"Adrikins, don't ignore me! You're dating her?!"

"One date, Chloe." The three of them made it outside and proceeded to Adrien's limo, Chloe and Adrien arguing all the way. "I'm going with Marinette and you can't stop me."

"Why go out with her when you could go out with me?"

"She's kind, honest, friendly. She always brightens up the place when things are gloomy. And best of all, she doesn't buy her friends or treat them like slaves."

"And I'm not a racist!" Marinette added. Adrien nodded in agreement. They reached Adrien's limo, with the bodyguard holding the door open for Adrien.

"We're going now, Chloe. I'm going on a date with Marinette, and I will not be friends with a racist, entitled little bully." Adrien turned around and helped Marinette into the limo before getting in himself. The bodyguard closed the door and Adrien opened the window, bearing a disheartened expression on his face. "You know, I always thought you could redeem yourself and become a better person, but after what Liam told me on Halloween and what you showed earlier, I seriously doubt that. Maybe Sabrina should do what I'm doing. Might wake you up to the real world." The Limo engine started. "See you around, Chloe." Adrien closed the window and the Limo drove off. Marinette saw Adrien's heartache.

"I'm sorry, Adrien." The bluenette said softly.

Adrien sighed and turned to Marinette. "Don't be. She's been given limitless chances to redeem herself and she keeps going wrong. I can't stand by her much longer. I must be stupid to think she can still turn it around."

Marinette placed her hand over Adrien's. "You're not stupid, you're hopeful. You hope she can turn it around. That's one of the reasons I like you, Adrien. When we first saw each other, I assumed you put gum on my seat and you took the blame. Nino told me why you didn't say anything. You've got a good heart, Adrien."

Adrien smiled. "Thanks. You too, Marinette." The two teens engaged in a hug for what felt like an eternity. They soon came back down to earth when the limo had a video call. Nathalie, Gabriel's assistant. Adrien's bodyguard pressed a button to answer. When he did, Nathalie appeared in on the back of the limo's front seats, apparently lying on a floor in darkness.

"Mr. Acier!" Nathalie whispered to the bodyguard. "Whatever you do, keep Adrien away from the mansion. We're in lock-down and someone's trying to attack Mr. Agreste."

Mr. Acier looked at Marinette through the rear-view mirror and did something he almost never did: talk.

"Perhaps your parents' bakery will be safe, miss?"

Marinette was surprised and slow to answer. "Uh, yes. Yeah, my parents will help."

"That should suffice." Nathalie continued. "The attackers seem to only be after Mr. Agreste. We're safe for now, but it won't last. Your priority is to keep Adrien safe."

"Understood. I'll take Master Agreste to the bakery, then call the police."

"No! Mister Agreste insisted on no police. He said to call Félix Rejeter. He can help-" The video cut out.

"Cheese and Cracks!" Mr. Acier drove to Marinette's bakery and led the two inside. Tom and Sabine were serving Alix and Nathaniel when they came in.

"Mom, Dad," Marinette spoke. "We need your help."

"What's the matter, sweetie?" Sabine asked.

"My dad's being attacked!" Adrien answered at fast speed.

"Could Adrien remain here while the issue gets resolved?" Mr. Acier asked.

"Of course!" Tom answered. "Why don't you two head upstairs? You can take your friends up, too." Referring to Nathaniel and Alix.

"Thanks, Mr. Dupain," Alix answered.

"Thanks, Dad" Marinette responded. Marinette took Adrien, Nathaniel, and Alix up to her living room, where Marinette switched her TV on, trying to keep Adrien happy.

"Try and stay positive, Adrien. Your dad's defenses were pretty good against Simon Says."

Adrien stared at Marinette wide-eyed but soon spoke nervously. "I know he can fend for himself, but I've just got my real dad back, I can't lose him now..."


	3. Confrontations

_Agreste Mansion, Lock-down Mode, Kitchen._

Nathalie and Gabriel were trapped in the Mansion, waiting for the inevitable.

"Sir," Nathalie assured Gabriel. "Mr. Acier has taken Adrien to safety and will call Félix Rejeter."

"Good." Gabriel sighed. "If these criminals use Adrien to get to me, they're gonna pay." BANG! The sound of one of the metal barriers hitting the ground could be heard through those still functioning. The attackers were in. A voice could be heard, deep and aggressive.

"Come on out, Hawk Moth! We'll find you anyway." Footsteps could be heard approaching the kitchen doors. Silence struck for five seconds before an orange laser pierced the barrier's corner and moved along the edges, cutting the barrier away. The barrier was knocked down and a light blue blur swept around the kitchen before going back out and another voice being heard.

"There's him and some woman who's now sleeping. No threat."

"We're about to confront the traitor who killed Gavroche and you're saying no threat?" A female voice asked frustratingly. "Really, Mercury?" The attackers walked in and four costumed people surrounded Gabriel and Nathalie. The first was a woman wearing a white mask covering her entire head, save for her blonde ponytail, and white jumpsuit with a black lower half. She was also holding a flute with the orange laser coming from the end of it. The suit included a treble clef on the chest and white musical notes on the right leg calf that made and infinity symbol. Her eyes were two different colours, her right eye brown and her left eye green.

The second was a man with dark blue skin with white lightning bolt-styled eyebrows and hair. His body had lightning bolt-like lines with light blue edges all over his body, meeting up and through dots on the back of his hands, shoulders, elbows, torso, and knees. His eyes had navy instead of white, light blue irises and no pupils.

The third attacker was wearing a blue mask with a thick white line underneath each eye, in addition to a blue suit that was silver from his neck to his shoulders with three blue dots down each side of his neck.

The final attacker wore a dark brown cowl with golden spikes akin to an owl's eyebrows over his eyes and a long cape. Underneath, he wore a bodysuit that covered his entire body, including his mouth and chin that aren't covered by the cowl. The suit's shoulders, upper chest, and legs were a darker shade of brown, and there was a logo of an owl's face comprised of gold lines on his chest. He also wore brown gloves with gold talon-like claws on the fingers, and a golden belt around his hips. This figure used his deep voice in an attempt to intimidate his hostage.

"Do you recognise us, Agreste? Assuming that's the name you answer to."

Gabriel looked at his captors. "Melodie. Mercury... Mime, since you're not a 'kid' anymore. And since they're all here, I assume that you're Sparrow."

"Not anymore. I am Knightowl."

"So is Melodie now Silk Spectre? Kid Mime: Rorschach? Mercury: Dr. Manhattan? Not very intimidating when you rip off a comic book character. At least Sparrow was more original."

Melodie aimed her flute a Gabriel. "You're think you're more intimidating?"

"No. I know I am. Seriously, you still act like 'Kids'. Breaking in here to kill me, you were probably seen. This clearly isn't the same team that I left behind. You're going to kill me." Gabriel stood up. "Fine. But you will see the horror when you discover that I didn't kill Gavroche."

Mercury smiled evilly. "Did she find out?" Gabriel went from smug to straight faced. "Sweet Girl. You scored big time. So why did she vanish and leave you with her son?" Gabriel started to frown. "Maybe she knows what happened to Gavroche... because you sent her to join him?" Gabriel snapped and lunged at Mercury. Unfortunately, Mercury used his super speed to get behind Gabriel and pin him to the ground, the rest of the Quantics facing them. "Hit a nerve, did I?" Gabriel struggled uselessly. "You're going down, for murder... George."

"And you four are going down for attempted murder." A voice called out from the door that had been broken. The Quantics turned around to see Félix Rejeter and Bridgette Dupain with angered expressions. "Unless you let him go and we clear the air peacefully." Mercury hesitated, but let Gabriel go. The fashion designer stood up.

"Not until I've helped Nathalie."

Bridgette nodded. "Mime, find a first aid kit and help me tend to her." Mime nodded as Bridgette walked over to Nathalie and knelt down to see to her. "And all you get your costumes off."

* * *

After tending to Nathalie, who came round and was persuaded to keep quiet and stay by Gabriel, the Quantics, costumes off and in civilian attire, were ready to talk with Félix, Bridgette and Gabriel.

Mime was wearing a v-neck white and blue striped t-shirt that is solid white on the top and solid blue on the bottom, with a blue shirt underneath with dark blue jeans and black sneakers with white laces. Melodie was wearing a white shirt with a purple vest over it, dark purple jeans and cream trainers with purple laces. Mercury wore a green jacket with a white collar and dark gray pants. Knightowl did not remove his costume, only his mask. He had curly red hair and stubble, hazel eyes that looked like they'd seen... stuff, and a crooked nose.

The eight adults sat round the dining room table.

"Now." Bridgette instructed. "It's good to you guys again, but I'd like you to explain why you were intent on killing Mr. Agreste."

Mime was able to answer Bridgette's question. "We heard that Hawk Moth had been unmasked and reports were that Gabriel Agreste was the man behind the mask."

"And you heard nothing about how the new Ladybug said his face was badly scarred? Does his face look scarred?" Bridgette pointed to Gabriel.

Mime looked towards Gabriel, and answered. "No."

Félix stepped in. "Besides, we managed to get the brooch off of Hawk Moth and it's not going anywhere. So who actually decided to get yous together and kill him?"

Knightowl answered in his deep voice.

"I did."

Félix started chuckling. "Don't know why I asked."

"To get all the evidence, detective." Mercury answered sarcastically.

"Shut up, Jason. Hawk Moth escaped, but declared that George Erickson will pay. So..." Félix turned to Gabriel. "What did you do now, Georgie Boy?"

Gabriel frowned. "Yeah, why not? You can never escape the past. I have no idea who that guy is, so how could I know what I've done to him?"

Félix responded in a low volume. "There's something you should know, Geor- Gabriel." Gabriel's eyebrow lifted. "When we recovered the brooch, we opened it and... we found a photograph of your wife."

The rest of the adults looked at each other in confusion, but Gabriel just slipped back into his seat in shock, took a moment and sat up again. "Wh-why was Maria's photo...?"

"Wish I could tell you. I keep thinking about how it connects to you and Hawk Moth. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but he may have gotten to you by-"

"By what, Félix? Kidnapping my wife?... Killing her? You got any proof she's dead?!"

Félix looked at Gabriel. "No."

"Then don't jump to conclusions. I'm not gonna tell Adrien that his mum is dead unless you have proof. It was heartbreaking enough with her disappearance..."

"Wait..." Mime said sharply. "There could be something we did to him..." Everyone looked at Mime in disbelief.

"We're heroes, Joshua." Knightowl responded.

"Yeah, what could we have done to them?" Melodie asked.

"Really?" Joshua answered. "You've forgotten?" Joshua took two seconds to say what he was talking about. "...Canberra..."

Everyone closed their eyes and gulped in sickness as the word escaped Joshua's mouth. Melodie and Bridgette slowly shed a tear while Gabriel, Jason and Félix inhaled and exhaled.

"Nice of you to open that old wound." Knightowl said angrily.

"Well, it was horrendous, what we did! We all felt it would come back and bite us on the ass. And why not? We were villains at that moment!"

"We killed a dozen people to save hundreds, maybe thousands more. We did what was closest to the right thing."

Joshua gave the death stare to Knightowl, blood boiling enough to steam. "Your son might disagree."

Knightowl dashed up and charged at Joshua, grabbing him by his throat and smashing him into the wall. Joshua's blood was boiling, but Knightowl's was hot enough to melt iron. Everyone else jumped up to try and calm Knightowl down."Don't you dare bring Birdy into this!"

Joshua, choking from Knightowl's grip, struggled to get his words out. "Y-You talk like you're unfazed with committing -gak!- mass murder!"

Melodie and Jason grabbed Knightowl's arm, trying to free Joshua.

"Knightowl, stop!" Melodie shouted. "You always told Birdy about your heroism. Let this go."

"Paige, do you know what Birdy would do if he found out about Canberra?"

"He'll see that it was monstrous." Jason answered. "But he'll let it go, because you're his dad and you'd do it again to save him."

"Knightowl..." Joshua choked. "H-awk Moth wanted revenge against Gabriel, but maybe it was agg-gainst all of us for failing to save a loved one. H-He'd want us in the same-" Joshua's face turned to horror as he realised they had done exactly where Hawk Moth wanted. At that point, the wall towards the mansion's front garden blew apart towards them, debris hitting Jason, Félix, and Knightowl, knocking them out and freeing Joshua (who had lost consciousness), and making everyone else fall to the ground in shock. The dust cloud that ensnared the room had a dark figure walking through it. The cloud cleared, revealing the figure to be the new villain, Fire Ant.

"Hawk Moth wants you all dead!" Fire Ant stated in his disguised voice. "He doesn't care who does the deed. So who wants to be the first to join Gavroche?"

Bridgette, Paige, Gabriel and Nathalie coughed as they regained the balance and observed the invader.

"Fire Ant!" Bridgette exclaimed. "You're working for Hawk Moth?!"

" _With_ him! He wants Ladybug and Cat Noir, I want the Hornet." Paige pulled her flute out of a holster on her back and played it, transforming her into Melodie. She kept playing it, with Fire Ant unfazed. "That supposed to make me sleepy? I know your powers!" Fire Ant prepared his flamethrowers. "Prepare to be scorched."

Melodie gripped the flute in her hand with the rod system in her palm, and the orange blade emerged from the head. Melodie dashed towards Fire Ant and slashed at Fire Ant's helmet. The new villain ducked and punched Melodie in the stomach. Melodie wasn't affected, she elbowed Fire Ant in his back and knocked him to the floor.

"Not that tough!" Melodie remarked. Fire Ant laid there, motionless. Melodie grabbed him to get him to his feet, but then...

"SHOCKWAVE!" Melodie was blasted up to the ceiling and fell down, instantly blacking out. Fire Ant turned his attention towards the three remaining conscious people: Bridgette, Gabriel and Nathalie. Fire Ant pointed at Gabriel. "I heard you had a book on the Miraculouses. Where is it, Erickson?" Gabriel walked over to Fire Ant, towering him.

"It's locked in a vault behind that image of my deceased wife." Gabriel lied, hoping Fire Ant would fall for it.

"She's not dead, but you're never gonna see her again. Now open the vault."

"How do you know my wife's-?"

"You're in no position to ask questions!" Fire Ant pointed his right arm flame thrower at Gabriel. "Open the fucking vault!"

Gabriel was not swayed. "Are you really trying to intimidate me? Bit difficult when you're shorter than my son."

"Your son." Fire Ant powered his flamethrower. "Who's about to be orphaned."

"Except his mom's still alive. You just said that yourself."

Fire Ant's helmet prevented Gabriel seeing his face, but he knew had hit a nerve. "Goodbye."

Just before Fire Ant could burn Gabriel to a crisp, his idea blew up in his face thanks to an arrow that punctured Fire Ant's flamethrower, burned his right arm and set Gabriel's scarf on fire. Gabriel pulled the scarf off and stomped on it, putting out the flames. When Fire Ant recovered, he turned towards the direction the arrow came from. He saw a boy wearing a brown hooded jacket with black spots on the sleeves and bottom. The hood was designed after the head of a sparrow, having a dark gray beak, white markings on its forehead and the sides, and an eye with a black pupil on each side. On his head, he wore a dark gray full cover mask and circular goggles with red lenses and brown straps over it. Underneath his jacket was a white suit, and over it, he had dark gray buckles around his torso. On his upper left leg, there was a bag with pockets, and he wore work boots that are tan-colored with cream laces. He held a slate gray bow with a cream string and white feathers on the tips. Fire Ant had a hunch to who this was.

"Sparrow!"

"Birdy." The hero responded. "You're not the only one to call me Sparrow." Birdy launched a bigger arrow. Fire Ant dashed sideways and dodged it, resulting in it hitting the floor behind him.

"Ha! Ya missed!" The villain taunted.

"Did I?" Birdy answered in a sinister tone. Fire Ant turned to see the arrow was an explosive. Before he could do anything, Birdy charged towards him, split the bow in half, wrapped Fire Ant's neck with the string and threw him on top of the arrow, which blew up and sent Fire Ant into the air. Reattaching his bow, Birdy ran up the wall and fired a light blue arrow at his enemy. The arrow released an icy substance that covered Fire Ant as he hit the ground. Birdy fell feet first and landed on Fire Ant, shattering the ice and knocking him unconscious. Birdy sat him against a wall and removed his helmet, revealing a face with a short black caeser haircut and freckles on his cheeks. Birdy grabbed a phone from his bag and took a picture of Fire Ant's face. He then placed the phone back in his bag and walked over to the three remaining conscious people: Gabriel, Bridgette and Nathalie. "You guys okay? I'm sure Ladybug can repair the damage. It's good to see you two again, just wish it wasn't like this." Birdy then ran and checked on the unconscious men. "They'll live. Ladybug can help them as well." Police sirens could be heard from a distance. "Shit! Knightowl? Knightowl. KNIGHTOWL!" Knightowl came round and put his mask back over his face.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'll knock you out again, shall I?! Fire Ant's down and we've got his face! Your welcome!" At that point, Fire Ant's remaining flamethrower started shooting fire everywhere as he woke up, showing his glowing red eyes before he snatched his helmet back and put it on.

"Then give it back!" Fire Ant demanded, pointing his flamethrower at anyone who looked like they were swooping in for an attack. Fire Ant took notice of the police sirens and chattering crowd.

"Don't be stupid!" Bridgette ordered. "You're outmatched and outnumbered!"

Fire Ant used his shockwave in his boots and launched out of the huge hole he created when he broke in. He activated his wings and flew off. As he escaped, the rest of the adults came around. Félix observed what had occurred while he was out of it. He turned to face Knightowl and Birdy.

"The two of you share the credit." The detective said. "No one will question your presence then. The kitchen damage is blamed on Fire Ant. Gabriel, you and Nathalie asked me to come here in regards to Hawk Moth, Bridgette was with me and so she came along too. Paige, Jason and Joshua, you are potential modelling contractors. We all understand what we're doing?"

"Yep. Yeah. Got it." The group answered.

Joshua made a remark. "There's that leadership. You'd think you were still Cat Noir."

Félix smiled. "Let's get out of here."

* * *

Everyone walked out of the front door and face the crowd outside. Two people who stood out in the crowd were Adrien and his bodyguard, Mr. Acier. Adrien quickly snuck through the police barriers and dashed towards his father.

"DAD!" Adrien screamed.

"Adrien!" Gabriel fell to his knees so he could hug his son. "I'm so glad you're safe."

"The Dupain-Cheng family let us stay at theirs. A few friends were there as well. But what about you?"

"I'm fine."

"The guy's had worse." Félix interrupted. "He's had to face me. Those two are the big heroes." Everyone looked towards the front door of the mansion, past Nathalie, Bridgette, Paige, Joshua and Jason to see Knightowl and Birdy, who were staring at the crowd, with Nadja Chamack in the crowd with her news crew. Her cameraman started filming as Knightowl and Birdy started walking towards the crowd.

"This is Nadja Chamack. Don't be bemused, it's just the news! We are on scene at the Agreste family mansion, where renowned fashion designer Gabriel Agreste was just attacked and held prisoner in his own home. It appears that Police Detective Félix Rejeter and his girlfriend, Firefighter Bridgette Dupain were also victims of this imprisonment along with three unknown civilians. The assailant was unidentified, however, a figure flew out of the building a minute ago fitting the description of the new super villain: Fire Ant. It seems that the villain was defeated by two heroes from New York City." Nadja walked over two Knightowl and Birdy. "Knightowl and Sparrow."

"It's not Sparrow, it's Birdy. I've stated that so many times, I have a punch card for a free bottle of soda." Birdy presented the card to Nadja. Her cameraman grabbed a soda bottle from his cooler and gave it to Birdy. "Oh, thank you. I'll drink that when we get to our hideout."

"Hideout?" Nadja continued. "So does this mean you two are staying in Paris for now?"

"No, we are not." Knightowl butted in. "We've got to get back to New York."

"No, we don't." Birdy protested. Majestia, Doorman, Uncanny Valley. New York is fine. We just defeated the newest threat to Paris. Then again, he got his butt handed to him by the Hornet earlier today. Is he _really_ such a threat?"

"Exactly. Where was Ladybug during all that? Yeah, some heroine."

"He also blew up a building." A female voice shouted. Everyone looked around until Ladybug swung below and landed in front of Knightowl. "Put several people in hospital, most of them high school students. "I cleared that damage afterwards with my powers. It also healed all the major injuries the students obtained. Now, if you don't mind. Detective!" Ladybug walked to Félix. "Do you need me to repair the damage?"

"It would help. We won't be able to get any trace of him now."

"Yes, you will." Bridgette responded. "His flamethrower blew up."

"And I have something that could help!" Birdy interrupted, walking over to Félix. Birdy took his phone out of his bag and showed Félix the photo he took.

"This can work!" Félix whispered. "Go ahead, Ladybug."

Ladybug threw her yo-yo in the air and shouted "MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!", repairing the damage caused. The crowd gasped in awe and then the police started talking through megaphones.

"Okay, nothing to see here, folks. Go about your business. Move along. And if you work for TVi news, no harassing any superheroes or detectives. You've been warned multiple times now and we have some new cells that need occupying." Everyone quickly left except for all the heroes, Nathalie, Mr. Acier and Roger, who waited for Félix. Joshua kept up his cover.

"So, Mr. Agreste? I think it maybe best to discuss things at a later date."

"I agree." Gabriel answered. "We should pick up some other time, but I'm still interested in all of you." Joshua, Jason, and Paige nodded, waved and walked away. Knightowl and Birdy stayed.

"Is everyone feeling okay now?" Knightowl asked.

"Yeah. We're fine." Bridgette answered.

"Okay here." Félix replied.

"We're fine now." Gabriel answered.

"Good. Cause we gotta go back now."

"Back to New York?" Birdy asked.

"You blew up one of his flamethrowers. I don't think he'll survive."

"Except his leg was healed." Bridgette protested. "It got twisted by the Hornet earlier, but he was fine just then."

"I've got the photo in the database. I'm running it and... Ugh. He's not in the system. We're gonna need to run this through other databases. And see if any schools might know him. When we have an ID, we'll put out a BOLO until we can get an arrest warrant."

"He also said he was working with Hawk Moth. I doubt Hawk Moth knows Fire Ant is just a kid. Maybe if we catch Fire Ant, we snag Hawk Moth as well. In the meantime, I think we should leave the Agreste family alone. You two may need to clear some things up." Bridgette got into Roger's car and they drove off.

"So are you two heroes staying in Paris or-?" Ladybug asked Knightowl and Birdy, only to turn around and see that they were gone. "Guess not. I'll leave you all to some family time. Bug out." Ladybug threw her yo-yo into the air and swung away. Gabriel got back onto his feet, his injuries healed. Adrien looked up at him.

"What did that woman mean? Who was she anyway?" Adrien asked, pretending he didn't know Bridgette.

"Adrien." Gabriel said in a worried tone. "I've got a lot to tell you. You're not gonna like everything I tell you. We should go back inside." Adrien, Gabriel, Mr. Acier and Nathalie walked back inside the now-repaired mansion, waiting for the bombshells to drop...


	4. Bitter Truth

_Agreste Mansion, Dining Hall, December 19th, 2016, 8:37 pm._

Gabriel and Adrien were sat at the huge dining table with Gabriel sitting on an end seat and Adrien sat on a side seat. Nathalie was sat opposite Adrien and Mr. Acier stood by the door. Gabriel spoke to Adrien with his hands on the table in a nervous tone.

"Adrien, I have a lot to explain. It will be best to start with my past life."

"Your _past_ life?" The young model asked.

"Yes. Before I met your mother, I went by the name of George Erickson. I was living in a relatively happy family. Except when the arguments happened. My parents would argue over every single thing. To keep myself out of these arguments, I would take a walk to the nearest shopping center. On one of these walks, I came across a man with a cane and Hawaiian shirt trying to get across some traffic lights. He was walking, but a car was speeding along, and would've hit him."

"Whoa," Adrien said. "Did you push him out of the way?"

"Yes. And got hit in the process. Woke in the hospital a week later with my parents beside me. They never argued again after that. But more interesting was a hexagonal box on the drawers next to me. I left it until my parents were out of the room, then I opened it. A strange purple light emerged and out of nowhere, this purple thing floated in front of me. I was frozen on the outside, but panicking in my head. The creature stated its name. He was called Nooroo and he was a Kwami. He told me that I was to become..."

"Hawk Moth!" Adrien whispered, catching Gabriel's notice.

"Yes. I used to be Hawk Moth. I was recruited into a team of other heroes, which included those adults you saw earlier. We were all over Europe, saving lives, fighting crime and growing closer. One other person on this team caught my eye. She called herself 'Le Paon'. When we started speaking to each other, I saw... She was bringing out the best in me and vice versa."

"You fell in love with her?"

"Yes. To the point where I broke the rule we all had and revealed my identity to her."

"She knew who you were?"

"And I knew who she was. And I think it's time you knew who she was as well." Gabriel got up and went to the painting. "Come here, please, Adrien." Adrien followed his father. Gabriel moved the painting and revealed the vault where he had kept the book Adrien had taken. He entered the code and the vault door opened. Gabriel took out the photo of his wife and presented it to Adrien, who took hold of it and stared into his mother's green eyes. "Adrien, say hello to Le Paon."

Adrien gasped as he held his mother's photograph in his hands, his heart beating fast enough that he could hear it. He stood there in shock and his legs gave in and he fell to his knees. Gabriel quickly rushed to help Adrien up, Nathalie helping as well. They both grabbed each of Adrien's arms and pulled Adrien to his feet. Adrien came back around and put the photo on the dining table, staring at it.

"You _and_ Mom were superheroes?" Adrien spoke with his voice trembling. Gabriel pulled a seat behind Adrien so his son could sit down. Gabriel sat beside him and answered his question.

"Yes. We were superheroes. She was Le Paon, I was... well I called myself Papillon, but Hawk Moth obviously didn't like that name. The stories we used to tell you when you were a child, those were adventures we had."

Adrien's voice kept trembling. "Y-you never told their final story."

Gabriel gulped. "Their final adventure was... Canberra, Australia..."

* * *

 _Flashback: Canberra, Australia. Year: 2000_

The Quantic Kids had been summoned to Canberra to save the civilians from a supervillain named Blitzwolf, who had nine highly occupied buildings rigged to blow, which would kill countless civilians.

The team consisted of Bridgette Dupain as Ladybug, Félix Rejeter as Cat Noir, George Erickson as Papillon, Maria Agreste as Le Paon, Joshua Mallet as Kid Mime, Jason Cartwright as Mercury, Paige Turner as Melodie and the two anonymous heroes, Sparrow and Gavroche.

Gavroche wore silver goggles with black lines over the eyes and yellow-green lenses, a green and white hoodie jacket, with the hood over his head and white stripes over his shoulders and around his hood, and white gloves.

Sparrow wore a white hoodie jacket with long sleeves that covered his hands and a center pocket with that included side holes. His sparrow head consisted of a white beak, a brown forehead and the remainder white, red goggles incorporated into his black mask, and a white string within his hood and sticking out on each end of it. The bottom edge of the jacket had a long front and short sides, and a white pouch to hold his dart attached to his left hip. He bore a brown cape that ended at a black-colored point at the bottom, looking like a bird's folded wings. Additionally, he wore dark brown pants and black and grey boots. Sparrow did not have a bow and arrows like his successor, Birdy. Instead, he carried a black dart with a silver pointed tip and a golden flight.

The nine heroes met with the Australian Prime Minister and two guards in The Lodge to discuss how to deal with Blitzwolf.

"We heard you helped Europe whenever they were under attack by super-villains." The Prime Minister said. "We thought you could help us."

"Any ideas on how we could beat him?" Ladybug asked.

"We don't know of any weaknesses. All we know is he's a werewolf that transforms whenever he wants, he can make anything he scratches explode at his will with the blast radius and damage determined by the colour the scratched glow, and an attack in the UK led to his name Blitzwolf. He's scratched and sealed nine buildings and you wouldn't be able to get inside without alerting him. We managed to get images of his marks." The Prime Minister handed each superhero a photograph of each mark Blitzwolf made. They were scratches from right to left and glowing orange.

"What does orange mean?" Le Paon questioned.

"They buildings blow up instantly and a blast radius will only affect the building itself."

"Has he made any demands?" Cat Noir asked.

"None." At that point, a screen came on through Gavroche's goggles, which he projected onto the wall of the room they were. Blitzwolf was making his demand.

 _"Quantic Kids. You should change that name. You're clearly adults."_

"We'll change it soon enough, son." Gavroche responded in his subtle Cockney accent. "Now, what do you want?"

 _"The one thing people love more than a hero winning is a hero losing."_

"Us, lose? Yer havin' a laugh, mate!"

 _"The fact is, that I've got the Lodge rigged to blow. Don't believe me?"_ The video of Blitzwolf changed to security footage of red claw marks all around the Lodge.

"Red means the whole city becomes a crater." The Prime Minister said.

 _"You can stop this, but to do so, you'll have to kill me. I can come to the lodge right now and you will become killers."_ The video cut off and the doors blew open to reveal Blitzwolf. Mercury pushed him to the floor and tied his hands together.

"Too easy," Mercury said. "Are you suicidal? Guilty conscience?"

"Just want to see you heroes become villains. These bonds won't hold me forever. You probably have five minutes." Cat Noir took his staff and bashed Blitzwolf's head with it, knocking him out.

"Now we have longer. But seriously, what do we do?"

"We figure out how we can stop the explosions." Ladybug answered.

"Cut his hands off," Sparrow suggested.

"Only you would suggest so Barbaric." Le Paon answered.

"We know nothing about this villain," Papillon stated. "For all we know, we kill him and he has minions that detonate the explosives anyway."

"Heroes don't kill!" Melodie retaliated.

"Right, okay." The Prime Minister interrupted. "Here's what I propose. I kill him. Knocking him out didn't do anything. If it succeeds, you get the glory, if it fails, I'll take the fall. You save people all the time, you shouldn't be ridiculed for one mistake." The Prime Minister walked to one of his guards, bald, similar height to Papillon and sweat running down him like a waterfall. "Give me your gun." The guard pulled his gun out and handed it to his boss. The Prime Minister turned to the heroes. "Are you all in agreement?"

"Majority." Ladybug answered. "Do we really have to kill him?"

"I'M killing him. The story goes that you were all too late to stop me." The Prime Minister aimed the gun at Blitzwolf and pulled the trigger, shooting him. Blitzwolf screamed in pain and uttered his finals words.

"I said the Lodge would be safe if you killed me..." The sound of explosions was heard. "I never said anything about the nine buildings." The heroes stared in horror as the commotion from outside the doors was increased. Everyone's breath accelerated, heart rates increasing and all of them dropping their weapons. Papillon spoke, barely getting words out.

"What have we done?" Everyone looked at Papillon, who could not bring himself to say anything else...

* * *

"We were never the same after that." Gabriel finished the story for Adrien. "There weren't any bad guys to fight, except ourselves. I remember the last words I spoke to them. If we are all okay with covering up a murder and killing countless innocents, then us superheroes have become... Villains. I will not be a part of this anymore. I quit! Your mother followed suit and gave up being a hero as well."

Adrien was shaking his head in horror, tears streaming and voice trembling. "You caused all those deaths?"

Gabriel hung his head. "Yes. The trauma of knowing those deaths were caused by us. It was eating away at us. There were nights where she would scream in terror and shoot out of bed and I would comfort her and vice versa. We began to feel that we couldn't go on. We started to see counselors and we began to cope better. And then one thing happened that let us know: we were going to be happy again. One big ray of hope."

"What?"

Gabriel stood up, placed his hand under Adrien's chin and stared him right in the eyes. "You."

Adrien gasped and looked down at the table. "You were both feeling that low and... I saved you?"

"Yes. That is why I am doing everything I can to make up for what I did in Canberra, to honour your mother and who we once were and most of all, to make you proud to be my son, just as I am proud to be your father."

Adrien tilted his head up. "You are... One of the best people who could ever walk the earth. You had all this weight on your shoulders and anyone else would crack under all that. But you... You kept going. Facing your demons and making up for what you've done." Adrien stood up and wrapped his hands around his father, making Gabriel freeze in place. "I love you, dad."

Gabriel placed his hand on Adrien's shoulder. "I love you too, son." The two of them embraced each other before they let go. "You are an incredible young man, Adrien. I've told you all of these shocking facts and you are taking it really well. You will tell me if you're feeling troubled by any of this, won't you?"

Adrien nodded. "Of course. Dad, it's been a long day. I'm gonna go to bed."

"Okay, Adrien. Good night."

"Good night." Adrien walked out of the dining hall and to his bedroom. When his bedroom door could be heard closing, Nathalie spoke to Gabriel.

"You didn't question him about the ring."

"Don't need to. The shape, the colour, the stench of Camembert... It's the cat miraculous. I just want him to tell me that himself." Gabriel stopped for a second. "It's has been a long day. I'm going to get some sleep as well. The two of you can do what you want."

"Understood. Good night, sir." Gabriel walked out of the room. Mr. Acier and Nathalie looked at each other, then at the door, wondering what was in store for the father and son...


	5. Leaving the Hospital

_Hôpital Necker, December 20th, 8:34 AM_

Liam was preparing to get the all clear from the hospital. He was dressed in his black jacket with yellow stripes, blue jeans and white trainers. As Liam packed the clothes from the explosion into a backpack, a nurse came in to his room.

"You okay, Liam?" the nurse asked her patient.

"Better now that I get to go home for Christmas. Mind you, I feel sorry that you have to work."

The nurse laughed. "Given the amount of accidents around the holidays, it's a good thing we work. Plus, the bonuses can help with presents." The nurse checked her file. "Liam, were you aware that blood tests showed an iron deficiency?"

Liam stopped in his tracks. "No. I didn't know that."

"Well, it's not too much worry. We can give you a transfusion to help get your iron intake to a normal level. We're ready if you are."

Liam was startled. "Isn't treatment that fast rather expensive?"

"Already taken care of. Courtesy of the president himself."

Liam hung his head. 'You gotta be kidding me. Don't know whether to be grateful or annoyed. Guess I can be both.' "Well, I'm ready."

The nurse smiled. "Could you follow me, please?" The nurse led Liam to a small room with a seat ready for Liam's blood transfusion. There was a family of 4 waiting to be seen. The family appeared to be Spanish. The father had short, curly black hair, a white, short-sleeve shirt, black jeans and grey trainers. The mother had a black business suit on with short heels. Twin 10-year-old boys spouted a bigger equivalent of their father's hair and wore Spider-Man themed t-shirts and red track suit trousers. Liam spoke the nurse

"Uh.. This family was clearly here before me. Shouldn't I wait?"

"Oh, it's okay, Senor." The mother said.

"Our daughter's giving her blood for donations now." The father added. At that moment, the closed curtain opened and out walked a teenage girl whose height left Liam at her chin. with shiny black hair that hung to her elbows. She wore a grey t-shirt with what looked like dirt all over it, a leather jacket that reminded Liam of Michael Jackson's Beat It jacket with the red being switched for royal blue, black leggings with the waistline covered by her shirt, and black loafers.

"All done." The teenager stated. "Someone waiti-?" The girl looked at Liam. "Wait, you're that student who fought the akuma villain!"

Liam's eyes widened. "Were you there?"

The girl walked forward. "Yeah. I'm in Miss Bernard's class at the school." Extending her hand, the student introduced herself. "Kayla Hernandez."

Liam shook her hand and smiled. "Liam Rejeter."

Kayla pulled her hand away. "Liam Rejeter? Relation to President Bryan Rejeter?"

"Please don't go yelling that in the corridor."

The nurse cleared her throat, alerting Liam. "We're ready for you now, Liam."

Liam nodded and turned towards Kayla. "Nice meeting you. All of you."

"Likewise." Kayla replied. "See you at school, and Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas." The Hernandez family walked away and one of the boys could be heard shouting "Kayla's got a boyfriend!" and Kayla could be heard shouting "Shut up. You don't even know what a boyfriend is." Liam chuckled at what his ears were hearing, then walked into the tiny room and laid his bag onto the floor. He sat on the chair with his arms rested on the pillows he was provided with. The nurse asked a question as she readied the blood sample with a syringe.

"Are you left-handed or right-handed, Liam?"

"Ambidextrous."

"Then we'll use whichever arm can give us a vein." Liam pulled his sleeves up and the nurse placed a clamped band around his right bicep, exposing a vein. The nurse wiped the injection area with disinfectant and placed the syringe into Liam's vein. Liam winced at the puncture, but looked straight at injection site, watching the blood go into his body. The nurse placed a small plaster over the site after she removed the syringe. "All done. Now you and that girl are bound by blood." The nurse gasped as soon as the words escaped her mouth. Liam knew what she had said.

"Kayla's the blood donor? I can see you didn't mean to say that. I won't tell anyone if saying that could get you fired."

"No. She didn't mind you knowing, it's just... She thought that it was going to someone random. If you get the chance, I would thank her." The nurse removed the band from Liam's arm. "Free to go."

Liam stood up and grabbed his bag, turning to the nurse. "Thank you."

"No problem."

"See you around and Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas." Liam walked out of the room, along the corridor and to the main entrance. Through the window before he went outside, he saw Rose in her winter outfit. He walked through the revolving doors and stood beside her. Rose took one look at Liam and exhaled, wiping her face with her hands. Liam saw that she was upset and tried to comfort her.

"You and Juleka are really close friends, aren't you?"

Rose took in breath to speak. "Yeah, we are. Best friends."

"Are you scared for her?"

"A bit. She woke up earlier. I was so happy when she did, I hugged her and didn't let go. But then she..." Rose looked pale.

"Easy, Rose. You don't have to tell me what the problem is if you feel uncomfortable."

Rose looked at Liam and bit her tongue. "She kissed me."

Liam looked around, baffled. "Is that the big problem?"

Rose was surprised by Liam's reaction. "You don't think it's-?"

"Can I just stop you right there, Rose? Juleka kissed you. There could be different reasons for that. She might have thought you were someone else. She might have been so happy to see you."

"The thing is, Liam. I actually liked it. But I was in shock and I... just ran out of there and stopped here. I-I'm worried I've hurt her. I never even thought that she was a lesbian or bisexual."

"I don't really know her and I don't judge people before I know them. But there is nothing wrong with not being straight. I mean, I view myself as bisexual."

Rose was taken aback by Liam's statement. "You're bisexual?"

"Sure am. I've kissed a few girls in my past - I admit, most of them were doing it either as a dare or to try and get money from me when they found out I was the president's son- but there were three guys who came to visit me earlier. Old classmates and band mates with Side Swipe. Anyway, didn't tell any of our classmates who were there, but I actually made out with one of them. So if you have feelings for Juleka... and she has feelings for you... Then what's the problem?"

Rose stroked her chin. "Well..."

"Rose. There is no problem. If you love her, don't be afraid to show it. Go and see her. Do not let your fears control you!"

Rose nodded. "Yeah. I'm going to tell her how I feel right now." Rose turned to Liam. "Thank you, Liam."

"It was nothing." Liam extended his right hand out and Rose shook it. This caused a reaction on Liam as he suddenly felt a surge of pain in his hand. "AHHH!"

Rose covered her mouth. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?"

Liam downplayed the pain. "Yeah, I'll live. It was just a static shock. Don't worry about me. Go and find her, Rose."

Rose smiled and nodded, kissing Liam on the cheek and jogging back into the hospital to find Juleka. Liam waited at the front entrance until Félix arrived to take Liam home. As they drove, Liam's phone rang.

"Mmmmmmmyellow?" Liam answered his phone.

 _"Hey, Scott Donoko!"_ The voice on the other ended cheered. _"It's Mr. XY!"_

"Who?"


	6. Moving Places

_Dupain-Cheng Bakery, December 19th, 9:24 PM_

At the Dupain-Cheng bakery, Ladybug had returned from the Agreste mansion, transformed back into Marinette and had watched the news on T.V. Footage of the attack that had been recorded on people's phones was being played. Tom and Sabine were sat on the sofa, watching.

"The first sign of disturbance occurred when a 112 call was made reporting sounds of smashing objects at the manor." Nadja reported on the news. Sabine turned to see Marinette. Sabine placed her index finger over her lips. Marinette nodded and walked over to the sofa and sat down. Nadja kept going. "Soon after the call was made, the sound of an explosion was heard and the left hand side of the manor front had collapsed. While there has been no official comment from anyone associated with Mr. Agreste, phone footage has shown the assailant to be none other than Paris's new super-villain, Fire Ant, who committed a similar act this morning, sending several students of . When it seemed that no one was going to save the day, a duel started between Fire Ant and two heroes from the United States, Knightowl and Birdy." Nadia placed her fingers on her earpiece. "We are now getting a call from the Agreste manor, maybe we can have some insight into what happened." The screen behind Nadja showed Nathalie's face. "Are you Mr. Agreste's assistant?"

"Yes. I will be speaking tonight."

"Can you tell us what happened? Are the reports that Fire Ant was your attacker correct?"

"They are. He took us by surprise and would have killed us if not for Knightowl and Birdy."

"Was Mr. Agreste's son in any danger?"

"No. Mr. Agreste's son was leaving the hospital when the manor was attacked. We were able to contact our chauffeur and tell him to keep away."

"Speaking of keeping away, what would Mr. Agreste's response be to claims that he was, and I quote 'Neglecting his only child and leaving his assistant and bodyguard to raise his son for him?'"

Nathalie's eyebrows twitched. "I believe the same claim could be made about you. Where is your daughter, Chamack?"

Nadja was offended by Nathalie's comment and the news report concluded. Marinette was stunned by what passed. Marinette tapped her mother's shoulder.

"Why do we have to be quiet?" Marinette asked her parents.

"Manon's upstairs asleep." Sabine whispered, noticing Marinette sweating.. "Are you okay? That Fire Ant villain put a lot of your friends in hospital."

"I'm fine, mom. Just some headaches. I see if some sleep can help. Manon's not in my bed, is she?"

"No, she's on your sofa. Just try and be quiet." Marinette nodded and slowly tip-toed upstairs and opened her door. Manon was laid on Marinette's sofa with her head on a cushion and a pink blanket covering her. Marinette slowly walked into the room, removed her blazer jacket and shoes and climbed into her bed. Tikki hid at the side of Marinette's pillow and the two quickly drifted off...

* * *

 _December 20th, 7:12 am._

Marinette slowly woke up. She could hear Sabine and Nadja talking and a door closing. Marinette got out of bed, soon followed by Tikki. Sabine shouted upstairs.

"Marinette? Are you awake?"

"Yeah, mom." Marinette responded.

"When you've got dressed and had breakfast, would you like to come with me? We're doing some last minute Christmas shopping."

Marinette quickly showered, dried off and got dressed. Tikki hid in Marinette's blazer as she headed downstairs, slowed by her phone ringing. "Hello?"

 _"Hey, Marinette?"_ Adrien's voice came through the speaker. _"I'm sorry for just running out like that. I should've said goodbye."_

"Don't worry about it, Adrien. Are you and your dad okay?"

 _"Yeah, but we're concerned about another attack. Mayor Bourgeois is giving us a room in his hotel. Chloe's just gonna love it. But still, I was thinking that... well..."_

"Cancel the date?"

 _"No. No, I still want to go somewhere with you. But, I think we should wait till this Fire Ant's behind bars. I don't know if you've heard, but your aunt Bridgette and Liam's brother_ _Félix were there as well. My dad's told me some really... shocking things."_

"Do you want to talk about it?" Marinette reached the bottom of the stairs.

 _"I wish I could, but I'm sure Bridgette will tell you since what he told me involves her. No doubt, Liam's known all along."_

Marinette placed a bowl on the breakfast bar as Tom and Sabine eavesdropped. "Would he? I think he would've said something if he knew."

 _"Whether or not he knew, he's getting sent here too. Fire Ant was targeting_ _Félix, Bridgette and my dad. Gabriel thinks he'll use us to get to them. Fire Ant knew about Gabriel and me. He might go after you and your parents. Liam's being discharged from the hospital and he's gonna be brought to the hotel."_

"Is that a problem?"

 _"No. But I think you and your parents should be protected. Would you all stay at the hotel for now?"_ At that point, Chloe could be heard ranting, to which Adrien retaliated. _"Chloe, if Liam and I are potential bait for my dad and_ _Félix, the Dupain-Chengs could be targets to bait Bridgette!"_ Gabriel could then be heard saying something. _"Huh. Never thought of that."_

"Adrien?"

 _"Sorry, Marinette. My dad just said something. If we're Fire Ant's targets, then we're putting all the eggs in one basket if we all stay at the hotel."_

"Don't worry. We'll figure something out."

 _"I hope so. Please take care, Marinette. I don't want you to get hurt by this guy."_

"I will, Adrien. Thank You." Adrien hung up and Marinette put her phone on the breakfast bar. Sabine and Tom walked over to Marinette.

"Is everything okay, dear?" Sabine asked her daughter.

Marinette looked at Sabine with an expressionless face. "The attack on Adrien's Mansion."

Tom and Sabine glanced at each other, concerned. "What about it?" Marinette's father inquired.

"Bridgette was there." Tom and Sabine gasped. "Fire Ant almost killed her."

Tom hugged his daughter and didn't let go. "She's strong, Marinette. She'll have survived."

Marinette replied. "She did. That was Adrien Agreste on the phone. Fire Ant seems to be targeting Bridgette, Liam's brother Félix and Adrien's father Gabriel. He said that Fire Ant could attack him to get to Gabriel, Liam to get to Félix, or us to get to Bridgette."

Tom released his daughter from his arms and turned to face Sabine. "Should we should find somewhere else to stay?"

"Where could we go?" Sabine asked. "If he's targeting us, anyone we go to could become targets as well."

Tom spoke to his daughter again. "Did Adrien know why Fire Ant attacked them?"

"It sounds like Gabriel, Bridgette and Félix did something bad when they were younger and Fire Ant was acting on behalf of Hawk Moth. Fire Ant wants the Hornet and he's now joined Ladybug and Cat Noir, so Hawk Moth must be working with Fire Ant." Tom and Sabine walked to the main door and turned their backs to Marinette and whispered to each other.

"Maybe we should stay somewhere else for a while." Tom said.

"I already said that anyone who helped us could be targets as well."

"Yeah. Plus the bakery is our business. Without it, we're out of a home." Tom came to an idea. Marinette saw her parents whispering. Tikki stuck her head out from and Marinette waved her hand to signal Tikki to stay hidden. Tom and Sabine came back.

"We gotta make some phone calls." Sabine told her daughter.

Marinette grew anxious. "Where are we going?"

Tom walked out into the hall, calling someone on his phone. His voice could be heard faintly.

"Hello. This is Tom. We need help. We were wondering... Oh, thank you so much. Yes. You're a life saver. Next time you come to the bakery, your orders are on the house. Okay. We'll come to you. Thanks again. Bye." Tom walked back in and Marinette repeated herself.

"Where are we going?"

"We're going nowhere." Her father answered. "You're staying with Alya's family for the next few weeks."

Marinette's expression turned to surprise. "What? What about you two? You're in danger two."

"We're adults, Marinette. We can take care of ourselves. You're the one we need to worry about."

"I can take care of myself too." Marinette protested. 'Shame, I can't show you how.'

"Against a super villain?" Sabine shot back.

"Okay, no. But can you two?"

"Marinette, enough." Tom interrupted. "We'll be fine. But if anything were to happen to you..." Tom couldn't bring himself to finish. "Please. Just go somewhere safe."

Marinette grew disheartened, got off of her seat and hugged her dad.

"Okay. I will. But please stay safe."

"We will. You'll be coming back for Christmas Eve and Day, okay?"

"Okay."

Marinette, Tom and Sabine embraced each other, tears shedding from the family. Tom slowly let his ladies go. "Now do you wanna tell Alya the news?"

Marinette nodded. She went to her room to phone Alya, but before she could get Alya's number up in her contact list, her phone rang with Liam listed as Contact. Marinette answered him.

"Hi, Liam." The fashion designer said. "Are you getting out of hospital toady?"

 _"Yep."_ The President's son answered. _"But I ain't going back to the house. My dad knows that Felix was attacked and he's scared that I'm next. You heard anything about you?_ "

"Yeah, same here. I'm having to spend the next few days at Alya's."

 _"Wait, Christmas away from your family?!"_

"I'm going back for Christmas and New Year's."

"Well, at least you get to spend those days with your family. Say, can you meet me at my new 'safehouse' in a few hours? I got something **bugging** me and I need to let the **cat** out of the bag."

Marinette cracked Liam's code. "Yeah. I'll see you there. And don't use any more puns. It's bad enough with Cat Noir."

Liam laughed. "See you later." Liam hung up...

* * *

 _11:24 am._

Marinette had packed her essentials into a suitcase and was ready to go. She carried her case downstairs into the living room and Tom and Sabine were in the kitchen preparing sandwiches.

"Ready to go, Marinette?" Tom asked.

Marinette felt a disturbing sensation in her stomach as she placed her case on the floor. "Not really. Even if Fire Ant gets taken down, Hawk Moth is still out there."

Sabine finished making sandwiches, then responded to Marinette. "Hawk Moth can't do much. He hasn't got his... akumas? Is that what they're called? Then, the police know he looks like Gabriel Agreste, so he won't be hard to find."

Marinette felt slightly reassured. "Okay, I'll admit. I can't bear that Fire Ant is making this family separate without even trying."

Sabine moved in front of Marinette and placed a hand on her shoulder. "We're not gonna be apart forever, Marinette. You can come back and visit any time."

Marinette smiled. "Thanks, Mom." At that moment, the bakery door could be heard opening. "That must be Alya." The voice that came from downstairs proved Marinette wrong.

"I know. I'm at Marinette's now. I'll tell her what's happening." Marinette followed the voice.

"Rose." Marinette whispered.

"Liam won't find out. He's with his brother at Chloe's hotel. I thinks they're staying there over Christmas. Well, he said he was part of a band. Maybe they just formed. But still, Juleka, he was invited by Jagged Stone! He deserves something for his kindness." Marinette stood by the stairwell door, with Rose stood facing away, on the phone. "Yeah. Okay. Yes. Alright. Take care. I..." Rose then whispered, unaware of Marinette behind her. "I love you too." Rose hung up. Marinette announced her presence.

"Hey, Rose." Rose screamed and jumped, startling Marinette. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you."

Rose gained her second wind and turned and faced Marinette. "It's alright, Marinette. After... what happened, I'm just a bit shaky."

"Understandable. What can we do for you?"

"Everyone wants to do something for Liam to say thank you."

Marinette was intrigued. "Really? What did they have in mind?"

"We're getting him a few presents, and we're hoping to visit him at Chloe's hotel. Do you think you'd be able to make him something?"

"I... I'm afraid I can't, Rose. I'm leaving home for a while."

"What? Why?"

Marinette thought to herself. 'Do I tell her the truth or lie?' Marinette made her decision. "Well... I-I." Marinette stared at Rose. "I can't tell you everything, Rose, but Fire Ant seems to targeting certain people now. One of them is my aunt Bridgette, and I've been spending a lot of time with her. If Fire Ant knows about me, he could come after me or my parents to lure her to him."

"That's so... mean!"

"I don't think he cares about that, Rose. But he doesn't seem to be after her for his reasons. Did you hear about his attack on Gabriel Agreste?"

"Yeah, I'm so glad Adrien was here. Alix and Nath were worried when he went back."

"Well, according to Adrien, that attack was actually on behalf of Hawk Moth. He's got it in for Mr. Agreste for some reason."

"So, if Fire Ant would use you to get to your aunt, couldn't he use Adrien to get to Mr. Agreste?"

"That's why he's being moved as well."

"I heard he wasn't staying at home. He was being kept at Le Grand Paris."

"Really? Well, when I've gone to where I'm staying, I'll see if I can visit." At that point, the door opened again and in walked Alya and Nino.

"You ready, Marinette?" Alya asked her BFF.

"Yeah. Got my case packed. I'll just say goodbye to my parents. Then I'd like to know what this thing is with Liam."

* * *

 _Le Grand Paris Hotel, 12:37 pm._

Marinette, Alya, Nino and Rose were at the main entrance of Le Grand Paris, visiting Liam. They walked to the door, but were then stopped by the doorman stepping in front of the dual doors.

"Uh..." Marinette stuttered. "We're here to see Liam Rejeter."

"Liam Rejeter?" The doorman responded. "He's not residing here."

"We're also here to see Adrien Agreste." Nino bounced back.

"No one gets to see Adrien Agreste without permission from Chloe Bourgeois."

At that point, the dual doors opened, knocking the doorman forward. Out stepped a strange figure. He was wearing a red cotton t-shirt underneath a light brown leather jacket with red pockets and black zips and patches on the shoulders and hood sewn on, a pair of dark grey, faded jeans and black steel toe work boots. He also had a black goatee and wore a black mask underneath his hood that cover his eyes and nose, but kept his goatee and and chin exposed. He also seem to have a mole on his neck.

"What are you doing, harassing these teens?" The figure spoke angrily in a deep voice to the doorman. "Let them in before I rip your hands off!" The doorman held a thumbs up in his hand and pointed his thumb towards the door, telling the teens they could go in. The teens walked in and the figure walked with them. "If you come with me, I'll get you to Liam. He's trying to keep quite." The five of them got into an elevator, to be spotted by Chloe.

"What are you lot doing here?" Chloe bellowed. The figure stuck his middle fingers up at Chloe as the doors closed. The elevator moved up. Rose spoke up to the figure, who only stood a little taller than her.

"That was rude." Rose protested.

"Yeah, it was." The figure responded. "But she does anger a LOT of people. Eventually, she'll bark up the wrong tree."

"Who are you, anyway?" Alya asked.

"I thought it would be obvious, Alya." The figure pulled down his hood and took off his mask exposing his face to let the teens put the pieces together in unison.

"Liam?!"


	7. The Akuma Solution and Fire Ant's Name

Liam's house, December 20th 12:37pm.

Bridgette was sat in the living room with Home Alone on the TV. Bridgette's mind, however was not on young Kevin living on his own. It was on Liam and the day he crashed in the back garden and showed five super villains in his watch. As she dwelled on the possibilities of what it meant, she was quick to react when the front door bell was ringing. She walked up at a fast pace and opened the door. There stood her old mentor.

"Master Fu." Bridgette stated. "Please come in."

Master Fu, with a plain green bag in his right hand, walked into Bridgette's house. Master Fu walked into the living room and set down his bag. Bridgette contiued to respect her guest.

"Would you like a cup of tea?"

"No, Thank You, Bridgette. I must admit, I was surprised receive your call."

"Please, sit down." Master Fu and Bridgette sat on the couch. "I wish I didn't have to disturb your business."

"Oh, nonsense, young Bridgette. You still save lives as a Firefighter, you are still a hero. I make time for heroes."

Bridgette smiled, then explained. "When Hawk Moth's Miraculous was retrieved, the Hornet absorbed a number of akumas. Could this have any effect on Liam?"

Master Fu hummed intriguingly, then pulled a book out of his bag. "I thought this could happen. Never thought it actually the Hornet would be a part of rescuing Nooroo. I'm glad to have him back, and I trust George- Gabriel still has Duusu. But on the topic of the Hornet." Master Fu opened the book and turned to pages about the Hornet. "The Hornet is a very unique being. One of few Hàojié objects, the Hornet watch can absorb akumas and store them. If they were previously empowered by Hawk Moth, then the superheroes, or villains would be present within the watch, even if they were purified by Ladybug. The akumas will show their presence by making him more calm and collected if they were good or angry and violent if they were evil." Bridgette made a quick gasp.

"Liam showed five akumas. All of them were villains."

"Then the remedy is that skin-on-skin contact with the akuma's victim can turn the villains into heroes that will keep the other villains at bay in the watch. But if this does not happen, they will take their toll on him and he will become dangerous and hostile." Fu iterated. "The more akumas he holds and the longer he holds them, the more danger he poses. To everyone around him and himself. The quickest way to get rid of them would be to destroy the watch. Not without destroying it, but that would cause a chain reaction that could claim young Liam's life."

Bridgette ventilated at the shock and put her face in her hands. "Isn't there any good that could come from this situation?"

"As a matter of fact, there is. If the victims purify any villains, Liam could give them their powers back, and they would obey his command, not Hawk Moth's."

Bridgette lifted her face. "He could control them? I don't think he actually would. The five villains are his classmates. Two of them have been here countless times already. He described another one as a pacifist."

"He doesn't have to empower them, just a handshake with no gloved hands would save him. Perhaps he should know about this."

"I'll give him a call. Thank you, Master Fu."

"It was no problem at all, Bridgette. If you do not need me any longer, I shall leave you to your business. But, there is two other things I must say."

Bridgette gave an confused expression. "What's the matter?"

"Liam can remove the akumas himself, but they would be destroyed and could never be recovered. And the big thing, I am surprised that Liam has maintained control all this time."

"He can fight the akumas. He's strong-willed, like his parents."

"That is true, but it was not the akumas I was referring to." Master Fu walked to the front door and opened it. "Liam's probably keeping it from you, but his greatest battle is with the Hornet." Bridgette once again was confused. "Take care, Bridgette." Master Fu closed the door as he left. Bridgette pulled her phone out oh her pocket and rang Liam's number.

 _"Hello, Bridgette."_

"Hi, Liam. We've just figured out your 'Moth' situation."

* * *

 _Meanwhile, at Le Grand Paris..._

Liam, Marinette, Alya, Nino and Rose were in the elevator going to the floor Liam was staying on. "Okay." Liam continued his conversation on the phone. "How do we deal with it?"

 _"Your voice sounds weird, Liam. I can't understand you properly."_

"Oh." Liam grabbed the mole on his neck and pulled it off, revealing it to be a voice disguise microphone. "Is that better?"

 _"Yeah. I figure out what you said. They'll make you more violent if you keep them for too long, but skin-on-skin with their victims will purify them and you can empower the victims into heroes."_

"Really?!"

" _Yeah. There is one other thing: the Guardian stated that your biggest battle is actually with the Hornet."_

The elevator stopped and the five teens walked out into the corridor. "That's never been a problem."

 _"Maybe you've already won."_

"Who knows? Listen, I've gotta go. Jagged Stone gets a little... angry when you make him wait."

"Okay. Take care, Liam."

"I will." Liam hung up and stopped in his tracks. Alya and Marinette saw Liam's saddened face, looking like he didn't want to live. "Sorry about that, guys. It's a bad dream I've been having ever since Hawk Moth was defeated." Marinette place her hand on his shoulder.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

Liam placed his back on the wall. "Yeah, okay. It might be better to talk to someone." Liam inhaled. "It's the same nightmare every night. I'm wandering the streets at night. Lights are one in all the buildings... Yet no one is around. I'm just running trying to find people, then through a dark alleyway, I see what **looks** like Nathaniel in an alleyway, but it's actually the Evillustrator." Liam become more agitated. "He draws a short chain and anchor and it wraps around my neck, pinning me to the floor." Alya and Rose covered their mouths and Nino became wide-jawed. "He always seems ready to kill me, but then a figure appears behind him, knocks him out. It's the Hornet. He breaks the chain and tells me to run, when Timebreaker and Lady WiFi show up and fight him. As I run, I get jumped by the Bubbler and Princess Fragrance." Rose and Nino looked at each other frightened. "Bubbler creates a bubble and Princess Fragrance sprays her perfume into it and the bubble traps my head." Liam saw that Rose was beginning to cry. "This is upsetting yous. The good part is that the Hornet always saves me, but then... he grips my throat and a voice says 'Kill him.' But the Hornet just lets me go and walks away. That's when I wake up. Heart throbbing in my ears, Pyjamas drenched in sweat." Liam ventilated and Marinette stepped in and hugged him.

"It's okay, Liam. You're safe." Marinette comforted the troubled boy. Alya took Liam's hand to comfort him, and he had the same shock from shaking Rose's hand at the hospital. "GAH!" Liam winced and everyone else jumped at his yelp. Liam rubbed his hand and looked at Alya. "Sorry about that, Alya. Static shock. The same thing happened this morning with..." Liam realised what the shocks meant. "...With Rose."

The five teens kept walking until Liam stopped at a door and pulled a keycard out of the pocket on his jacket. He placed the keycard into the slot on the door handle and the door opened. Marinette didn't even wait and she knew which room it was.

"Wait a minute. This is Jagged Stone's room!"

"He's why I'm here." Liam placed the microphone back onto his neck, the mask over his eyes and pulled his hood up. The five walked in and around the room was boxes containing amplifiers, some opened that contained guitars and basses, a drum kit missing its cymbals. The people in the room were Jagged Stone and Liam's friends from the hospital, Milo, Craig and Michael, wearing the same outfits. Jagged scolded Liam, but he didn't call him Liam.

"Where on earth have YOU been, Scott?!"

"I've got friends from school visiting me." Liam answered. "I'm sure you remember Marinette?"

Jagged looked at Marinette. "Yeah. She did these awesome sunglasses. And the cover for my Rock Giant album."

"That was you?" Nino asked.

"Yeah." Marinette said.

"When did you make those sunglasses?" Alya asked her BFF.

"On our work field trip day."

"But who are the rest of you?" The rock star asked.

"These are a few other friends." Liam went behind his friends and held his left hand on Alya's right shoulder. "This is Alya Césaire. Her mother is head chef here at Le Grand Paris. This young lad..." Liam placed his right hand on Nino's left shoulder. "...Is Nino Lahiffe. He manages the school radio station and maybe loves music more than you."

"I don't think that's possible."

Liam smirked and moved his hand, causing skin-on-skin contact with Nino, leading to another shock for Liam. "Ah! Ugh, again? I swear this outfit attracts static." Liam finished the introductions. "And last but not least..." Liam placed his hand on Rose's shoulder. "This sweet girl has a name as pretty as her face. Rose Lavillant."

Rose blushed and giggled at Liam's comment. Jagged gave a disgusted look.

"Are you flirting with her?! She's a teenager!"

"So is he." Milo retaliated. "He just said they were friends from school."

"Thank You, Milo." Liam praised. "I was just trying to cheer her up because I told them about a nightmare I keep having and I ended up scaring her."

"Oh." Jagged said awkwardly. At that point, Liam's phone rang and this time it was Félix. Liam answered and held his phone to his ear.

"I'm with Jagged and Side Swipe. Something wrong?"

 _"Nothing's wrong, Scott. Just sending you a photo of the person who put you in hospital."_ Liam's phone beeped and Liam placed it in front of him and pressed the notification. The image that Birdy had taken of an unmasked Fire Ant's face appeared. _"We're having trouble on ID'ing the guy."_ The position Liam had his phone in meant that his classmates saw the image and Rose and Nino gasped.

"I've never seen him before. Gimme a sec." Liam showed the image to his band mates. "Any ideas who it is?"

The group collectively said 'No', as Rose put her hand up. Michael gave a head movement to Liam, who turned to Rose.

Liam put his phone near his chin. "Someone here wants to speak. I'll put on speaker." Liam pressed his phone and placed it front of Rose. "You can speak to her now."

 _"Hello._ _Félix Rejeter, Detective on the Paris PD. Who is this?"_

"Rose Lavillant. Detective, I know who that boy is." Marinette, Alya and Nino murmured in confusion. "His name is Callum Terrence. He went to our school until he was expelled."

 _"Really? Miss Lavillant, do you remember why Callum was expelled?"_

"Everyone who saw it does. One day in Chemistry, his father and sister had come in for... I can't remember why. But Chloe Bourgeois was angry for them disrupting the class and Callum's sister called her names, so Chloe pinned her to the table and put..." Rose's voice was trembling. "...Something on her face. The next day, Callum came in and knocked her to the ground." Rose was tearing up and choking. "The t-teachers had to p-pry him off of her." Marinette quickly hugged the distressed blonde, who was crying her eyes. Nino and Alya were distressed as well and Liam was sniffling as he clenched his free hand into a fist.

 _"Miss Lavillant, I'm sorry for causing distress."_

Rose sniffled. "It's not your fault, Detective."

 _"I really appreciate this. I'll only ask you one last question: do you know an address for Callum Terrence?"_

"I think the address was an apartment block. Because another classmate still lives in that same block. Nathaniel Kurtzberg."

 _"That's brilliant, Rose! Thank you for your help. A good deed at Christmas time, who says the spirit is dead? You still there, Scott?"_

Liam took his phone off speaker and spoke to Félix. "Yeah. I'll give Nathaniel a call and see if he knows which floor he lived on and if he's still there."

 _"When Fire Ant's brought in, tell Rose she's a silent hero."_

"Will do. I'd advise you take the big leagues. If Callum's there, he might be keeping what's-his-name there, or at least know where to find him. I call you back when I have something."

 _"Thanks. I gotta call the big leagues now. I talk to you later."_

"See ya." Liam hung up. "Sorry, guys. I gotta call Nathaniel." Liam walked outside and went through his contact list. "Alix, Craig, Jason, Joshua, Michael, Milo, Nathaniel!" Liam pressed his phone and rang Nathaniel, removing his mole mic. When the phone stopped ringing, he addressed the tomato-head. "Nathaniel, do you know a Callum Terrence?"

 _"Callum Terrence? He's an old student from school. He lives just one floor above my family's apartment._

"Do you know the floor and door number?"

 _"He lives on the 8th Floor, Apartment 13."_

"Great! Thanks for your help."

 _"No problem, but why did you need to know that?"_

Liam hesitated in his answer. 'Do I tell the truth, lie or shut up?'

 _"Liam?"_

"Nathaniel, if I tell you, you have to keep it secret."

 _"I will. Sounds serious."_

"It is. My brother's obtained evidence that Callum is Fire Ant."

 _"What?!"_

"He was unmasked at Adrien's mansion. No one knew who he was. I only found out who because I showed an image of his face to Rose."

 _"So she told you about-?"_

"Yes. But it doesn't excuse blowing up a building and putting teenagers in hospital. Nathaniel, I'm really serious, don't tell anyone about this. If this gets out, we're both dead. And don't go into his apartment, if he figures out why you're there..."

 _"I'm not stupid, Liam. I got you. You do what you're gonna do."_

"I will. Happy Hanukkah, Nath."

 _"Merry Christmas, Liam."_ Liam hung up. The room door opened and Alya, Marinette, Nino and Rose walked out towards the elevator.

"We just got a call." Alya said as Nino pressed the elevator button. "A few of our friends have brought gifts for you and they want you to open them."

Liam chuckled. "Well, that'll have to wait a sec. You three head down if you want. Marinette, I need to speak to you about Adrien."

"Uhhh, sure." Marinette answered. The elevator doors opened and Nino, Rose and Alya walked in. "See you down there."

The three nodded in response as the doors closed, Liam and Marinette were alone. Liam grabbed Marinette's arm and pulled her through the staircase door.

"It's not Adrien we're talking about. I need you to suit up. We're going to investigate this." Liam pulled his right sleeve up and tapped his wristwatch, transforming into the Hornet. Tikki appeared out of Marinette's blazer.

"If this is Fire Ant, then we've finally got him." The Kwami exclaimed.

"Why is it whenever a new villain appears, the name Chloe Bourgeois isn't far behind?" The Hornet shouted in frustration.

"You're really asking that question?" Marinette responded sarcastically. "Tikki, SPOTS ON!" Marinette's costume materialised and she became Ladybug.

"Make your way to the roof. I'm gonna get Cat Noir. We'll meet up there, then I'll tell you what I was talking about that's related to the nightmare." Ladybug nodded and threw her yo-yo up to the top staircase railing and reached the roof with the closed pool. She waited for 10 minutes when Hornet returned with Cat Noir.

"Hornet's told me everything." Cat Noir told his bugaboo. "Except for what he wanted to tell both of us."

Ladybug nodded at her partner, the turned to the Hornet. "What did you need to say?"

Hornet started. "When we fought Hawk Moth, five of his akumas attached to my arm that were still attached after we defeated him. The akuma villains. They're trapped inside me, and they make me angry and more violent. I found out from Bridgette and her Master, the great guardian, that I can clear them by skin-on-skin contact with their victims. Then..." Ladybug and Cat Noir looked at the Hornet in concern. "I can turn them back into their forms under my command instead of Hawk Moth's."

"So you could turn the villains into heroes?" Ladybug asked.

"Yes."

"But you don't want to, do you?" Cat Noir inquired.

"No. These people are traumatised by their experiences and I'm not bringing that trauma back to haunt them. Anyway, hopefully, this is it. We ready?"

"Ready!"

"Ready."

Hornet ran and dived off the roof and activated his wings, Ladybug threw her yo-yo and swung after him, and Cat Noir jumped off the roof using his staff as helicopter blades.

"Hope you're ready, Fire Ant." Ladybug shouted.

"Cos we're coming..." Cat Noir started.

"For You!" The Hornet finished.


	8. Enemy Home and Back to Square One

Ladybug, Cat Noir and The Hornet reached the apartment block that Callum Terence lived in. The trio entered through an open window on the 8th floor. They tried to keep as quiet as possible.

"Don't go in guns blazing." Ladybug commanded.

"You think?" Hornet whispered sarcastically. "We can still walk normal. Apartment 13."

The three heroes walked around the floor to apartment number 13. When they reached the door, they waited and discussed how they were going to approach the situation.

"Cat Noir." Ladybug said. "We'll go in, and Hornet, you stay and lookout. Or should we follow your lead?"

"You're still the boss, Ladybug. I got some new gear to try out." Ladybug smirked and nodded. She knocked on the door three times and Cat Noir and Hornet backed against the door's walls, ready to attack. After 30 seconds, the door staggeringly opened, revealing a pre-teen girl. She sported an undercut hairstyle with her hair combed to the left of her head. The hair was dyed blonde, shown by the fact that her shaved hair around the undercut was brown. She wore an open blue denim jacket over a pink dress and skirt that stopped at her shins. Her nails were glossed and she had two defining objects: the red lens glasses and the white cane she held. The Hornet took one look and recognised her immediately.

'It's the girl from the park!' The Hornet thought to himself.

"Hello, there." Ladybug said softly. "My name is Ladybug. What's yours?"

"K-Krystal." The girl responded. "Krystal Terrence. Did you say you're THE Ladybug?"

"And THE Cat Noir!" Cat Noir interrupted.

"Well, how do I know?"

"Well, is there anyone here with you?" Ladybug inquired.

"One minute." Krystal turned around and walked into the apartment living room. "Dad! There's two people at the door. They say they're Ladybug and Cat Noir." At that moment, a door could be heard opening and out walked a slightly overweight, bald man with black stubble, brown eyes and large, pointy nose. He wore a horizontally striped polo shirt with green, blue and turquoise stripes, black track pants, black trainers with white soles and laces and a brown wristwatch with a silver clock.

"It IS Ladybug and Cat Noir, Krystal." The man confirmed. "Please come on in. There's clearly something wrong." Ladybug and Cat Noir walked in, leaving the Hornet to stand guard, using his new gear to observe the floor. His gear was controllable bee cameras. Each corner of the floor was covered by one camera, the elevator was covered by two infrared cameras, as was the staircase.

"I'm afraid we're here about Callum Terrence." Ladybug stated "Am I right to assume he's your son, sir?"

"Name's Jack. I'm Callum and Krystal's stepfather."

"I see. Well we believe your..." Ladybug looked at Krystal. "I don't think we should discuss this in front of your stepdaughter."

"I understand. Please give us a second." Jack walked over to Krystal and held her left hand. "Come on, Krystal. Let's get you into your room." Jack walked Krystal into her bedroom and laid her on her pink quilted bed. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yes, dad. I'll be fine. Is Callum okay?"

"That's what I'm going to find out." Jack walked out of the bedroom and closed the door. "Is Callum in trouble?"

"We think he is." Ladybug answered.

"The superheroes Knightowl and Birdy took down Fire Ant at the Agreste mansion." Cat Noir stated. "He escaped, but they got a photo of him unmasked which was identified as Callum Terrence."

"Callum? There must be a mistake."

"Mr. Terrence, we have someone who can show you the photo if you don't believe us." Ladybug turned to the main door. "Can you come in, please?"

The Hornet walked into the apartment. Jack looked down at him.

"Hornet." Jack said. "Never pictured you so... small."

"Size doesn't matter." Hornet retaliated. The hero reached under his glove, pulled out his phone and brought up the image of Fire Ant unmasked, presenting it to Jack, who gave a disappointed, but scared look.

"That's him! That's my son!"

"Mr. Terrence, please calm down. Gabriel Agreste claimed that Fire Ant attacked him on Hawk Moth's orders."

"So my son has been akumatized?"

"Unlikely." Ladybug responded. "Fire Ant didn't appear until a month after Hawk Moth lost his powers."

"But still," the Hornet interrupted. "I don't believe Callum is doing this of his own free will. Sir, with all due respect and no distress intended, we know about Callum and Chloe Bourgeois."

"Oooooh, yeaaaaaah." Jack said awkwardly. "I confess, I agree that Chloe should have been punished, but Callum went about it the wrong way. He still hates her you know."

"Well then, if Callum still hates Chloe and has the power to really hurt her, then why hasn't he gone after Chloe?"

"My guess is he knows Krystal will be scared of him." Cat Noir speculated.

"I think it's more that Callum just doesn't want to hurt her anymore." Ladybug threw her theory in. "I think Fire Ant is using his body. Knightowl and Birdy said his eyes glowed red. Fire Ant could be like Hawk Moth, except he's IN the object that gives Callum powers."

"Ladybug." Jack begged. "Cat Noir, Hornet. Please, save my son."

"We will." Ladybug and Cat Noir assured Jack together.

The elevator could be heard. The Hornet dashed out to the side, closed the door and changed back into Liam before the doors opened, revealing Nathaniel and Alix. Nathaniel was wearing his usual clothing, whilst Alix wore her winter outfit. When they started walking out, they were taken by surprise when Liam shoved them back in and sent the elevator back to the 7th floor.

"Liam!" Alix shouted. "What are you doing?"

"I think you've bruised me." Nathaniel stated.

"You were going to check on Callum Terrence, weren't you, Nathan?"

"It wasn't his idea, Liam." Alix defended her friend. "It was mine."

Liam looked at Alix angrily. "What are you actually doing here, Alix? Are you two dating or something?"

"No." Nathaniel jumped in. "We're working through..." Nathaniel stopped and looked at Alix. "The trauma of Evillustrator and Timebreaker. We've never been the same since we were corrupted. I don't think you'll ever understand."

"That's good friendship. But, you shouldn't have gone to the 8th floor. Ladybug and Cat Noir have found out Callum **is** Fire Ant."

"He is? When did they find it out?"

"They're here to confirm it is him from his father. But, they found out after I told them my brother showed me this." Liam showed Alix and Nathaniel the image. "Rose remembers him from a scuffle with Chloe Bourgeois. You know, I knew she was bad cos of all the akumas she's caused and all the racism, but blinding a girl who did nothing to her?!"

Alix and Nathaniel were now terrified. The elevator door opened and Liam walked out. Alix spoke quietly. "We need to calm him down before he hurts himself!"

Nathaniel nodded. "Liam, please. Chloe did a lot of bad things, but no one could do anything to punish her."

Liam finally snapped, punching a wall with his bare right hand. "I'LL KILL HER!" Liam took heavy breaths as he turned to face his two friends, who both look terrified. Liam's face slowly turned from anger to horror as he turned his head to his fist in the wall and pulled it out. The dent left wasn't that big, but still noticeable. Liam looked at his hand, which was intact, but had a few cuts. Liam could still move it properly, but he didn't notice as his thoughts were on how he terrified his first friends from his new school. Liam started breathing heavily and placed his cut hand on his chest as he backed up against the wall and slid to the floor, eyes tightly shut. He was in that state for 5 seconds before his friends grabbed hid hand, causing the final two shocks that hurt him more than the previous. Liam winced and checked his hand. Liam looked at Alix and Nathaniel, who had sat down, Nathaniel on Liam's left, Alix on his right.

"Liam." Alix spoke softly. "You're not alone. We're right here." Alix smiled at her distraught friend, whose breathing slowed when he turned and saw her smile.

"We're not going anywhere, buddy." Nathaniel added. Liam turned to him and smiled.

"Thank you. Both of you. I'm sorry for scaring you, I don't know why I let myself get so wound up. I shouldn't have gotten angry at you, it was out of order."

"It's okay, Liam."

"Chloe doing all kinds of bad stuff and getting away with it?" Alix stated. "You have no idea how many times I've wanted to show her the error of her ways."

"Everyone wants her to be punished for her actions, but you can make sure she is properly."

Liam nodded. "You're right. I can stop her using her father to avoid comeuppance. Use the same power she has against her."

"Exactly!"

"Now, come on, let's get off the floor." Alix, Liam and Nathaniel stood up and together, they walked into Nathaniel's apartment, Nathaniel and Alix each holding Liam's arm. When they got into his family apartment, there was a a green couch facing a flat-screen TV on the wall above the electric fire place, with a wooden table infront of the couch. Nathaniel helped Liam onto the couch. Liam groaned as his head started burning and he couldn't keep it held up.

"Wait here." Nathaniel said. "I'll get you some water." Nathaniel power walked to the kitchen behind Liam as Alix stayed with him on the couch. Alix placed the back of her hand on Liam's forehead.

"God, you're hotter than a furnace." The tomboy exclaimed. Alix unzipped Liam's jacket and took it off him, exposing his shirt... and the Hornet watch. At first, Alix took no notice. Nathaniel came back with a glass of water in his left hand and two tablets in his right.

"Here." Nathaniel handed Liam the water and tablets. "Painkillers. Not much but it's something."

"Th-Thank You." Liam answered when he could breathe. He put the painkillers in his mouth and swallowed a mouthful of water. Liam then remembered the surprise at the hotel. "I need to get back to the Mayor's hotel. What's the time?"

 _"Time is 1:48pm."_ Liam's voice came from the watch, surprising the trio and giving Alix and Nathaniel interest in the watch.

"I didn't know you had a watch." Nathaniel stated, confused at the device.

"Looks more advanced than normal watches." Alix commented. "But it still doesn't compare to mine."

"No, it doesn't." Liam affirmed. Liam clicked the dial that would allow the wearer to change the displayed time, which made the watch's strap undo itself and the watch detach from Liam's wrist. "Even I didn't know it could do that. Then again my grandpa **did** say it would actually _tell_ me the time. Even so, I gotta get back. Liam jumped up, making himself dizzy.

"You're in no state to go anywhere, Liam. At least not on your own. Let me phone Jalil, he can take us there."

"Okay. I need to call Félix anyway." Liam and Alix took their phones and rang Jalil and Félix. Liam's call was answered.

 _"Can't help you right now, Liam! Police station got broken into, Hawk Moth's Miraculous has been stolen!"_

"You're kidding me! Do what you need to do." Liam hung up and placed his clenched fist onto his forehead in frustration. Liam turned to Alix and Nathaniel. "The thing that gave Hawk Moth his powers has been stolen from the police lockup."

Alix and Nathaniel gasped in horror. "Did they say who it was?" Nathaniel asked.

"No, but who could break, not sneak, into one of the most fortified buildings in Paris and steal something that would be given 'shoot-on sight' protection?"

Nathaniel and Alix knew the answer and gave it unison. "Fire Ant!"


	9. Drastic Measures

_1:49 pm._

Ladybug and Cat Noir were still at Callum Terence's home, talking to Callum Terence's stepfather, Jack.

"So Callum keeps leaving and coming back?" Ladybug asked.

"Aye." Jack replied. "He keeps leaving the place. In fact, he spends more time out of this place than in. He probably sneaks out at night, too."

"Do you know where he goes when he leaves?"

"Wish I did." The conversation was cut short by a call on Ladybug's yo-yo. Liam Rejeter. Ladybug answered.

"You went a bit crazy, didn't you?"

 _"Sorry about that."_ Liam apologised on the phone. _"I was fuming at Chloe for blinding that girl. Nathaniel and Alix are down here though. Brought me back. I don't know what came over m- actually yeah, I do. But that's in the past now. There's been a huge catastrophe. Looks like Fire Ant broke into the Police HQ and stole Hawk Moth's Miraculous!"_

Ladybug dropped her yo-yo, startling Cat Noir.

"You okay, M'lady?" Cat Noir expressed concern.

"Mr. Terrence, thank you so much for your help. We need to be heading off." Ladybug picked up her yo-yo. "You still there?"

 _"Yeah. Nathaniel, Alix and I are going outside and Alix's brother's picking us up."_

"Thanks for the info." Ladybug hung up, then turned to Cat Noir. "We need to go." Ladybug walked out of the apartment, grabbing Cat Noir's arm and pulling him out. They reached the window they came from and swung to the nearest rooftop.

"What's going on?" Cat Noir demanded. "This is freaking me out."

"Fire Ant just stole Hawk Moth's Miraculous."

Cat Noir froze in shock. "We go through all that trouble of finding him, fighting and getting his Miraculous back without being able to give back to the 'Guardian' and now he's got it back?!" Cat Noir clenched his fist and activated his staff.

"Cat Noir, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to the Police HQ, Fire Ant will be near by if he just broke in and I'm gonna find out where he's keeping Hawk Moth." Cat Noir ran and jumped between building, using his staff to keep altitude.

"Cat Noir, wait!" Ladybug swung after her partner, catching up with him in no time. "Cat, you don't know what he can do."

"He can start huge fires, he can unleash a seismic blast, he can fly. He won't be able to do any of those soon."

"Cat!"

Ladybug kept chasing Cat Noir until they were near Le Grand Paris, then she swung her yo-yo at Cat Noir's foot, hurling both of them to the ground near the hotel. People soon gathered round, including Alya, Nino, Chloe, Rose, Lila, Mylene, Ivan, Max and Kim. Ladybug and Cat Noir soon got up after impacting the ground. Cat Noir was first to regain focus, and he was even angrier.

"What the hell, Ladybug?! You could've gotten us both killed!"

Ladybug gathered her surroundings. "And you're gonna get yourself killed! Just stop and think."

"I think that enough is enough! We don't let Fire Ant or Hawk Moth push us around anymore!"

Ladybug's yo-yo wrapped around Cat Noir. "I can't let you go, Cat Noir. Just calm down and we'll plan this out. We've never fought Fire Ant."

A megaphone noise could be heard. "Do you need our help, or is this just a lover's quarrel?" Everyone turned to the sound of the voice and saw the people who were getting Ladybug and Cat Noir's attention were Knightowl and Birdy.

"Knightowl, Birdy!" Ladybug shouted.

"I keep saying it! It's Bi-" Birdy realised his error. "Oh. Thanks for getting it right."

Cat Noir used the distraction to escape Ladybug's bonds, but Birdy threw his dart at the feline hero, cutting his cheek. Cat Noir, unfazed by this, ran up the hotel, only to be hit by an invisible object and fall down again. "What the-?" The thrower walked over to the laid down Cat Noir and revealed himself as the hero, Mime. He moved his lips, but no voice was heard. "What?" Mime used another invisible object to carve into the ground: Stay down.

"I'd listen to him if I were you." A female voice protested. Cat Noir got himself up and saw a woman that he didn't recognise. "I'm Melodie. You already know who he is, and there's someone else so fast you haven't even seen him." At that point a blur sped past and stopped behind Melodie.

"Call me Mercury." The blur said. "We're the Quantics. Now if you don't mind, we've got business with Hawk Moth and Fire Ant too."

Cat Noir stood up and became surrounded by Melodie, Mercury, Mime, Ladybug, Knightowl and Birdy. The feline hero knew he was defeated, so dropped his staff and held his hands up in surrender. Mercury zoomed over and out Cat Noir's arms behind his back.

"Can I talk to Ladybug privately?" Cat Noir requested. Ladybug walked over.

"Sure, let's get to the roof." Ladybug threw her yo-yo, grabbed Cat Noir by his waist and swung up to the roof, leaving the crowd in awe of the new superheroes. Ladybug and Cat Noir landed. "What was THAT about?"

Cat Noir sighed. "I just can't believe we're back to square one. Actually, we're in negative squares now, because we gotta worry about Fire Ant **and** Hawk Moth."

"And we've got the Hornet, Birdy and those adult heroes. Cat, they were part of a team with our predecessors. Hawk Moth killed one of them, but they want the city to be safe, not revenge. I just don't understand why you got so angry."

Cat Noir leaned on the stone barrier. "Because when we unmask him again, we have to see the face of Gabriel Agreste."

"And why would that be so bad? We know it's not him."

"It's because... he and my mom were part of that team as well... he was Hawk Moth. And what they did... they're not heroes! And he's not the dad I used to know and love."

"Gabriel... was Hawk Moth?" Ladybug eyes widened as she gasped. "Wait..." Ladybug went beside her partner. "You just said he's not the _dad_ you used to know..." Cat Noir panicked. "Cat Noir, are you... Adrien Agreste?"

Cat Noir hung his head, before giving a quiet whisper for an answer. "Yes."

Ladybug placed her hand on his shoulder. "I don't know what I can say to make you feel better. Gabriel being Hawk Moth, both your parents being on that team of heroes and... doing something bad. You can't have been processing it well."

"I wasn't. I'm not. Then, he also said that he and my mom were not doing well and they weren't really living well, until... Mom fell pregnant with me."

Ladybug sighed. "So he pretty much implied that they were only trying to live properly because of you." Ladybug pulled Cat Noir around and embraced him in a hug. "I'm sorry."

Cat Noir returned the hug. "It's not your fault."

Ladybug then retracted from the embrace. "Could it be that they weren't coping well because they regretted their actions?"

"Regretted it? They quit being superheroes because of it." Cat Noir groaned. "Maybe I'm overreacting and just being a spoiled child."

"No. Don't think like that, Adrien. You're not spoiled. Your mother went missing, your father distanced himself, then when you started getting closer again, Fire Ant happens and causes your father's secrets to be revealed. You have right to know the full story."

"Thanks, Ladybug."

The partners smiled. "Let's get back down." At that point, the Hornet flew past, shocking Ladybug and Cat Noir due the speed he was flying at.

"Where's he going in such a hurry?"

* * *

The Hornet kept flying, intentions clear only to him. 'You already brought Volpina back! You're not bringing any others back. Hope the butterflies are still there.'

The Hornet flew into the window of his destination: Sacré-Cœur. The place where Hawk Moth hid and where he was defeated. To his pleasant surprise, all the akuma butterflies were still there.

 _"What are you doing?"_ Liam's voice said, though the Hornet was not moving his lips. _"This is risky!"_

The Hornet changed back into Liam Rejeter. "Who are you?"

 _"I'm... the Hornet."_

"Huh?"

 _"Ladybug has Tikki, Cat Noir has Plagg, you have me. My name is Polistes."_ Liam's watch was beeping while Polistes was talking. _"Timebreaker and Evillustrator made you lose your temper and you almost attacked your two friends. That nightmare you keep having where they come after you and the Hornet saves you; that's me."_

"Then why are you told to kill me?" Polistes remained silent. "Fine." Liam held his watch up to the akumas.

 _"Wait! Let me help you. You already know you can absorb akumas and turn them back into heroes, but to keep hold of all of them would drive you insane. I can destroy them as you absorb them."_

Liam was intrigued. "Not all of them. Some of them can be heroes. Others I want gone for good."

 _"Deal."_

Liam started his monologue. "All you akumas, your master abandoned you. He may have gotten his power back, but he hasn't got you. Those which have been corrupted have a desire to be what you were meant to be: heroes. In that case, come to me, join my watch and allow your dream to come true, but if you try and rush things, I cannot restore you." A number of akumas entered the watch and Polistes listed them and Liam gave his one word orders.

 _"Reflekta?"_ "Redeem."

 _"Horrificator?"_ "Redeem."

 _"Stoneheart?"_ "Redeem."

 _"Dark Cupid?_ "

"Let's make this easier. Redeem the three I said. Plus, Gamer. Discard the rest."

 _"Got it. I can make sure you don't get shocked when you redeem them."_

"Good. Now, let's get back to the hotel."

* * *

AN: So, the Hornet has captured more akumas to make heroes and Ladybug knows who Cat Noir is. Will they ever see each other in the same way again? We'll find out next chapter. Anyone who sees this chapter, please take the time to leave a review to see how I'm doing, what you liked, what I could do better etc. Thank you so much and I'll see you in the next chapter.


	10. Problem solved, then another rises

As Ladybug and Cat Noir talked on Le Grand Paris rooftop, the crowd that had gathered below were still astonished by the new heroes, who were waiting for the duo to return.

"I'm going up." Birdy launched an arrow with rope attached into the wall near the top and into the middle of his bow. Birdy retracted the rope, so it pulled him up. In the crowd, Alya took advantage of the quiet.

"Are you new heroes who form a team with Ladybug and Cat Noir?" The Ladyblog manager shouted. The heroes looked around, but could not see her. Alya started shoving people to get in front of the crowd. "Excuse me. Sorry. Make way, please." Alya reached the front of the crowd. "Alya Césaire. Creator of the Ladyblog."

Mercury zoomed in to be right in front of Alya. "Mercury. And no, we're not on a team with Ladybug and Cat Noir. Been there, done that."

"Uh... What do you mean 'been there, done that?'" Before Mercury could answer, Cat Noir, Ladybug and Birdy landed on the ground, giving Alya the chance to ask about Cat Noir's outburst. "Ladybug, Cat Noir! What was _that_ all about? Was Cat Noir under mind control again?"

"No, Alya." Cat Noir answered. "I was just angry, not thinking straight."

"Does it have to do with the break-in at the Paris PD?"

"Yeah. But that's all you're getting from me."

The superheroes walked to speak with the adult heroes.

"You must be the associates of... our predecessors." Ladybug guessed.

"Correct." Melodie answered. "I am Melodie."

"I am Mercury." Mercury introduced himself. Mime walked up and stood next to him, smiling, but remaining silent.

"This is..." Melodie hummed. "Well, we used to call him Kid Mime, but he isn't a kid anymore. Just like mimes, he can't talk. Not when he's in costume, anyway." Mime smiled and waved. "We're here to find one person: Hawk Moth. We heard about the Police Department and we can track his Miraculous. Birdy, you got the device?" Birdy pulled a device out of the packet on his leg and tossed it to Melodie. Melodie activated the device and its screen switched on with a beeping purple dot. The dot was shown to be in Le Grand Paris. Ladybug panicked.

"Everyone, get out of here! Hawk Moth's inside!"

"But you took his power source!" Alya objected.

"And Fire Ant took it back." Everyone started running in panic with the knowledge that one of France's most wanted criminals was inside the Parisian Mayor's hotel...

Inside the hotel itself, an elevator stopped on the 11th floor. Nathalie Sancoeur was in the hallway near door number 32. As the elevator opened, Nathalie turned to see who it was.

"Mr. Agreste?" Nathalie said. "I didn't see you go out."

"I can be stealthy." Gabriel retorted. "The hotel's being evacuated. Hawk Moth's come for me."

"What?" Nathalie was scared. "Then we need to get you out of here."

"Not without Adrien." Gabriel walked into the hotel room. Observing the room, the layout was immediately apparent. The 'living room' was right in front of Gabriel. There was a velvet red couch and two chairs of the same velvet surrounding an oval glass table. To the left was a double bed and to the right was a door leading to a kitchen. Gabriel reached inside his pocket and grabbed something, clenching it in his fist. He heard someone in the kitchen, and snuck to the side of the door, peaking in. The person was holding a book. Grinning, Gabriel hid as the figure walked out. When the figure walked out, Gabriel grabbed them and pressed his previously clenched hand onto the book. The book was smothered by the black and purple aura... of an akuma. The figure stood there, frozen. Gabriel referred to them by their name.

"Gabriel Agreste." 'Gabriel' said. "You and the Quantic Kids took my wife and daughters when you killed Blitzwolf. Now, you've already lost your wife, and your son has stolen from you. Your book of inspiration's been taken by the person you should trust most. Now, I give you the power build a new one. Maybe you'll pick up a Miraculous on the way." The frozen Gabriel stood there, trying to fight the rage. His fight was in vain as the aura ensnared him and changed him. His skin was now pale purple. His hair now white with black vertical stripes, along the back of his head and his neck being black as well.

He wore a black dress suit with a white lapel, stiff shoulders, and black and red downward-bent stripes on the front. Each lower sleeve had a white stripe, and his hands now bore white gloves. He also wore black dress pants and high heel boots connected to the pants, and the boots are black with black and white striped heels. The Gabriel that attacked spoke again. "Dark Wings, Rise." At that point, Nooroo shot underneath his scarf and he transformed into Hawk Moth. "What's your answer?"

"The one thing I had left of my wife has been stolen from me. The one who took it will be a fine addition to my new portfolio. Gabriel Agreste is gone. I am... The COLLECTOR!"


	11. The Collector

As Hawk Moth and the Collector began their scheme, Ladybug, Cat Noir and the rest of the heroes were helping to evacuate the hotel. They succeeded, but then a car pulled up, and out came Alix, Nathaniel and Alix's brother Jalil. Alix and Nathaniel saw Ladybug and chased after her.

"Ladybug!" Alix shouted. "Our friend's gone missing!"

"Liam Rejeter!" Nathaniel added. "We were driving here and he just jumped out of the car."

"While you were still driving?!" Ladybug questioned, shocked that Liam could be so irresponsible.

"I'm afraid so." Jalil responded, catching up to his sister. "He started running off into an alleyway. We chased after him, but he'd gone."

Ladybug pretended to be puzzled, then waved. The three civilians looked into the sky to see the Hornet, landing in front of them. "I'll find Liam. Where did you last see him?"

"We didn't really know where, but he said he had to go home."

"First place to look. That place is... If you see any of your classmates, tell them to go there. Bridgette Dupain can keep you safe, and it's more fortified than the Agreste Mansion."

"WAIT!" Alix shouted. "Please be careful. Before we came over here, he punched a wall and hurt himself. We calmed him down, but I think he's having a breakdown."

Hornet kept his composure. "In that case, you go as well in Chloe's limo and pick up classmates yourself. If he sees you, he won't go crazy." Alix and Nathaniel headed to Chloe's limo, Alix grabbing Jalil's arm and pulling him along. The three got into the vehicle and drove off. The rest of the heroes regrouped.

"That's everyone." Birdy stated.

"Now we can look for that asshole!" Melodie responded.

"There were a lot of friens in the crowd." The Hornet stated. "I told Alix to head to my house and get any other classmates they encounter there as well."

At that moment, Knightowl noticed something flying that was about to hit the Hornet. "LOOK OUT!" Knightowl shoved the Hornet out of the way, making the object hit him instead. Before anyone else could properly react, Knightowl disappeared and the object hit Mercury, making him disappear as well. The remaining heroes were in shock. The object flew past, revealing itself to be a book with Knightowl and Mercury on the open pages. The book flew and was grabbed by a figure on the roof. The team knew exactly who the figure was.

"Gabriel Agreste!" Ladybug and Cat Noir shouted.

"Not anymore. I am now THE COLLECTOR!" The Collector threw his book at the heroes, but Mime threw an invisible object to be absorbed into the book. The book fell onto the floor and the page showed a boomerang, before returning to the Collector.

"Those pesky nuisances!" Hawk Moth spoke through the Collector's head. "Collector, trap them all in your book. I still have one last thing to deal with."

"Yes, Hawk Moth." The Collector answered, before charging at the heroes. Ladybug, Cat Noir, and Hornet dodged to his left and Birdy, Mime and Melodie to his right. Mime kept throwing invisible objects that were revealed to be playing cards when absorbed into The Collector's book. The heroes kept trying to keep the book away from him, but it kept flying back no matter how much they tried.

"Hornet!" Melodie lied. "You've gotta find Liam Rejeter! He's in danger!"

"What about you?!" The Hornet protested.

"We'll be fine!" Ladybug answered.

"Go help him!" Cat Noir kept the illusion up.

The Hornet nodded and flew off, Mime and Birdy covering him from The Collector's book by shooting arrows and playing cards at it.

"Fine. I'll deal with him later." The Collector grunted. Melodie played her flute and orange spheres of energy materialised on the end. Melodie fired them at The Collector, who kept storing them into his book. "ENOUGH!" Collector threw his book again, hitting Mime and Melodie, making them additions to his portfolio.

"Oh, no!" Birdy shouted.

Ladybug took drastic measures and hurled her yo-yo. "LUCKY CHARM!" The item that appeared spooked Ladybug. "A mini-gun?!"

"They're not your thing, Ladybug!" Cat Noir exclaimed as he whacked The Collector's book with his staff.

"Drastic times!" Birdy argued. The Collector's book hit Birdy, absorbing him.

"NO!" Ladybug shouted, before turning to The Collector. She took note of the book and the mini-gun. "Come and get us!" Ladybug fired the gun at The Collector, who caught every bullet with his book. Cat Noir was horrified by Ladybug shooting at his father.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Finishing his collection!" The Collector moved forward to his targets and eventually swiped Ladybug's gun. He then placed his book onto Ladybug, but she wasn't absorbed into the pages. The Collector, astounded by this, flipped through the book and found the problem.

"It's already full!" Ladybug kicked the book out of the Collector's hands.

"Now, Cat!"

"CATACLYSM!" Cat Noir shouted. He then jumped and pressed his palm on the book, turning it to ashes and exposing the akuma. Ladybug quickly grabbed her yo-yo.

"No more evil-doing for your, vile akuma." Ladybug started the process. "TIME TO PURIFY!" Ladybug caught the black akuma and released a white butterfly. "Bye-Bye, little butterfly!" Picking up the mini-gun, Ladybug threw it into the air. "MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!" The gun dispersed into thousands of Ladybugs that repaired all the damage that the fight had done, the heroes were freed and the Collector fell on his hands and knees, changing back to Gabriel Agreste.

"What have I done?!" The fashion designer exclaimed in horror.

Ladybug and Cat Noir bumped fists. "Pound it!" Cat Noir then dashed to his father.

"Are you okay, sir?!"

"I'm fine now, thank you. I'm so sorry. Hawk Moth used my anger over a book to corrupt me."

"You're safe now." Ladybug assured Gabriel. "Hawk Moth said he had one last thing to do. Do you have any idea what he meant?"

"He's attacking us for causing his family's deaths. The truth is, Ladybug, I was once Hawk Moth, on this team. But in 2000, on a mission in Australia, we... killed Blitzwolf."

Ladybug gasped. "The super-terrorist?"

"Yes. But before he died, he blew up a number of buildings. Hawk Moth said his family were in one of them." Gabriel began tearing up.

"Sir." Ladybug responded. "You made sure a sadistic, vile being couldn't hurt anyone else. You weren't to know that he would blow up those buildings."

"We should have known. And he lost his wife and his daughters..."

Birdy walked over then turned to face his teammates. "Is this true?" Melodie, Mercury, Mime and Knightowl sighed and nodded. Birdy inhaled and exhaled. "Aw, well. I agree with Ladybug, but you should have told us. Now he's targeting your families because he lost his."

Gabriel gasped. "He wanted me to kill Adrien! Now he's going after Liam Rejeter!"

Ladybug grabbed her yo-yo and tried to get into contact with Liam. To her surprise, she got an answer from someone unexpected.

"Who is this?!" The person asked.

"It's Ladybug. Is that Alya?!"

"Ladybug, we need your help! Fire Ant's here! He's beaten up Bridgette Dupain, Jalil Kubdel's unconscious! I think-I think he's gonna kill us!"

"Hold on, we're coming!"


	12. Home Invasion

_Rejeter House, while Ladybug and Cat Noir were fighting The Collector..._

The Hornet flew towards his home. From in the air, he saw the limo picking up Sabrina and Chloe.

"Well done, guys!" Hornet said out loud, knowing the people inside the limo couldn't hear him. The Hornet flew to the house and landed in the back yard. "Bridgette!" Bridgette opened the back door. "The hotel's under attack! Gabriel's been akumatized!"

"What?!" Bridgette screamed in anger and horror."

"My classmates! They're coming here to find me! We need to stay here!" Hornet ran into the kitchen. "I'm going upstairs. They'll all be here, plus others. When they're all here, initiate lock-down."

Bridgette nodded. The Hornet ran upstairs into his bedroom and transformed into Liam Rejeter. Polistes spoke in Liam's watch.

 _"How are you gonna get out of this?"_

"You heard Alix, she thinks I'm going crazy. I could say I'm having blackouts where I don't remember anything."

 _"Or you could just... Actually yeah! Tell them you don't remember jumping out the car."_

"Perfect!" The door knocked, Liam locked his bedroom door and changed into his white, blue and black tracksuit. Then he unlocked the door and rand back downstairs, almost smashing Bridgette like a bowling ball. "Freaking..."

"When all teens are inside, get them into the basement." Bridgette ordered. "And get yourself down there as well. If Hawk Moth's coming after us, it's you he'll want dead." Liam nodded. Bang! Bang! Bang! Liam walked to the front of the door and peeped through the eyehole. All of his classmates were there, as well as Alya's parents and siblings, Jalil, Nathalie and Adrien's bodyguard, Mr. Acier. Alix and Nathaniel were at the front of the pack. Alix, in a moment of joy and anger, violently slapped Liam, leaving his right cheek red raw. Then, she grasped onto him in a suffocating hug.

"DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN!" The pink haired tomboy exclaimed. Liam, stood frozen in shock, finally spoke.

"Nice to see you too! I don't even remember how I got back here, but Bridgette said The Hornet's sent you all here as a safe house. So, come on, get in." Liam stepped outside and let everyone through. "Keep calm. We'll all get in soon enough. Don't worry about breaking anything, that's not a priority right now." When everyone was in, Liam went to close the door, but his arm was grabbed. Liam tried to grab the attacker, but changed his mind when he saw that it was Félix. "What took you so long?"

"Roger being an annoying little-"

"There's children here, watch your mouth." Félix nodded. The brothers walked in, locking the door behind them, then joined everyone in the living room, where everyone was chatting away in panic. Alix and Nathaniel joined Liam.

"Your house." Nathaniel said. "What's the plan?"

Liam tried to get everyone's attention. "Guys? Guys, I need your attention. Quiet please!" Liam's efforts were in vain, but Nathaniel's were not.

"SHUT UP!" The tomato head shrieked at the top of his lungs. Everyone went quite.

"Thanks. Bridgette, activate the lock-down." Bridgette walked over to the portrait of her, Félix and Liam over the fireplace and pressed on the button that kept Félix's sleeve folded. The building's windows slowly became devoured by giant metal squares. "Now, this place has tighter security than the Agreste mansion."

"DOUBTFUL!" Chloe shouted while sat on the couch. Liam snapped.

"The Agreste Mansion is home to some fashion designer whose secretary likes to pass off a scarf made by Marinette as one made by Gabriel-" Liam instantly pointed his finger at Nathalie. "-Adrien already knows- and his son who hates the modelling business and just does it to keep that designer, happy- if that's even possible." Liam walked over to Chloe and put his face uncomfortably close to hers. "THIS place is home to the two sons of the PRESIDENT OF FRANCE, one of which is one of PARIS'S TOP DETECTIVES and the other fighting an akuma villain with HIS BARE HANDS." Everyone was in shock at Liam's method of standing up to Chloe. "You know... I've heard some really interesting stories about you, Chloe. There's one in particular that really... inspires me." Chloe was becoming scared, but Liam backed away. Now, you may have noticed a cupboard underneath our stairs, Ladies and Gentlemen. It has a hidden staircase that leads to a huge sports hall. We will all be safe down here, but some people need to stay up here, so... Mr. and Mrs. Césaire, if you'd like to head there with your children, Félix will help you down." Félix walked over to Alya's family. The four followed Félix to the cupboard and they went down into the hall. Liam smiled, then his train of thought was derailed by Rose's crying.

"A-are we gon-n-na die?"

"Rose, we are not gonna die." Juleka comforted her secret girlfriend.

"No, we're not." Liam affirmed. "Now Nathalie, Jalil, Mr. Acier. We need you to help get all the teens down into that hall as well. Then Félix and Bridgette stay up here and we go down with everyone else." Jalil, Nathalie and Mr. Acier nodded. Liam walked over to a bookcase in the left corner in the back of the room and knocked on it three times. The bookcase was pulled into the wall and revealed an elevator.

"Wow!" Mylene was gobsmacked.

"This really is amazing!" Lila said.

"A secret elevator behind the book shelf?" Kim joked. "Real original."

"You hide something in plain sight, they never catch it. Take you for example, you go to the zoo, Kim, and Alya's dad never shouts 'I've found the missing chimp!'." The classmates started giggling. "Now, let's go." People started filling the elevator and when it was full, Chloe, Ivan, Mylene and Kim went down the stairs with Jalil, Nathalie and Mr. Acier. "I'll bring my game console down and you can have a few rounds on Maximus's game."

"That game needs QA testing." Max stated.

"Then who better than to do that than those who are honest with you."

Sabrina shook her head. "I don't like it." She said, confused and scared. "You're being too calm about this."

"Trust me, I'm crapping myself."

"And you've always hated Chloe and me. Everyone else, I understand, but why are you helping the two of us?"

"Well, I never hated you, Sabrina. You're just brainwashed by Chloe. And I don't hate Chloe enough that I'd want her dead, despite what Alix and Nathaniel might have told you."

Lila chuckled. "You get us those gifts, you listen to our problems, you let us hideout here. We'll never be able to repay you."

Liam smiled. "And you'll never have to." Liam closed the door and sent everyone down into the basement. He then ran upstairs, grabbed his game console, two controllers, and some games, then placed them into a backpack, then went into a secret drawer in his bed. Inside the drawer was a golden gun with non-lethal bullets and a ninjatō hilt with a green crystal lodged into the bottom.

 _"What are those?"_ Polistes asked.

"I told Rose we weren't gonna die." Liam answered. "This is to make sure they don't."

 _"Liam, you're too young to possess a firearm!"_

"Right now, my priority is keeping everyone safe. But, Polistes?"

 _"What?"_

"Alya's younger sisters are down there. If Fire Ant-"

 _"Fire Ant is controlling Callum Terrence. You kill Fire Ant, you kill him, and he's already a victim."_

"How do you know?"

 _"... I've fought Fire Ant before. You remember when he said he was Hawk Moth to your Ladybug? Those two have been around for a long time, and so have we. He only uses the name Fire Ant when he has flame gauntlets. The Shockwave power is his first and he would call himself Bullet Ant but his real name is_ _Solehnos. He can't do anything without a human body to control. Know your enemy."_

Liam sighed. "Fine. We'll free Callum, but how can we stop Hawk Moth from killing me? Fire Ant may stop him, but we'd need to reveal you to him."

Polistes remained silent, then came up with a new idea. _"Liam, you can't fight them on your own, Hornet or not. You do need to reveal the truth, but not to Solehnos."_

Liam stopped. "Which ones?" Liam attached the hilt to his belt, strapped the gun to his left arm under his baggy sleeve, then grabbed his backpack and headed downstairs. He grabbed a portable desk and got into the elevator.

"Are you really taking a game console down?" Félix asked as he held a shotgun in his hand.

"I want them to know that they're safe. Try and get them to stay positive and ease their minds."

Bridgette walked past with a pistol. "At least they won't hear any gunshots. You sure it'll work?"

"I'm willing to try anything." The elevator door shut and the bookshelf moved back to hide it. Félix and Bridgette stood in the living room. Félix pointing his shotgun at the front door, Bridgette pointing her pistol at the back door.

"I think there's something wrong with Liam." Bridgette said.

"What makes you say that?" Félix asked.

"That ginger-haired girl is right. He's too calm about all this. He said he was... you know, but he was lying."

"Maybe he thinks we've already won."

"Or he's got something planned if we fail."

* * *

The elevator reached the bottom and the doors opened. Everyone was chattering away again, stopping when Liam whacked the sword hilt on a pipe and the sound echoed over the large room.

"Is everyone here?" Liam called out everyone's name and everyone responded.

"Liam!" Chloe shouted. "Where's Adrikins?"

"And where's Marinette?" Alya shouted.

Everyone started mumbling in worry. Liam whacked the pipe again multiple times. "I'll be honest, I don't know where they are. But Ladybug and Cat Noir are out there."

"And those other heroes." Mylene stated.

"Other heroes? Well then, Marinette and Adrien will be fine. Right now, we should try and keep calm." Liam slid his backpack onto the ground and opened it to pull his console out and place it on the portable desk.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Alix grunted.

"I said I'd bring it down. If we're down here, we need something to do." Liam set the console up on the desk and moved it to some plug sockets near the crowd of people. He plugged the cables into a box built into the wall. Liam pressed another switch next to the box and a giant projection screen lowered down on the opposite wall. As the screen kept lowering down, Liam switched the console on and handed two controllers to Juleka and Kim. "Games are on top of the console and Max's demo is loaded. If you play it, please tell him what you think." Liam walked until he was behind the projector screen, than spoke to Polistes. "Which ones do I transform?"

 _"All of them."_

"All of them?"

"What are you doing?" Alix asked, startling Liam.

"I... Uh. I need to speak to you and Nath. Can you get Alya, Nino and Rose as well, please?"

"What were you doing?"

"I'll tell you the truth: Fire Ant and Hawk Moth are coming to kill me. Hawk Moth's at Chloe's hotel to kill Adrien, then he's going after Marinette and me. And he won't hesitate to kill everyone else."

"How would you know that?!"

"Be quiet. Alix, please. Get who I've asked for and I'll explain."

Alix shook her head. "You are crazy. But you've helped us, so..."

Liam sighed in relief. "Thank You." Alix walked away and spoke to who Liam asked for. Liam started feeling the wall behind the screen and eventually opened another secret door. The screen was all the way on the floor, so no one could see him. Alix returned with Nathaniel, Alya, Nino and Rose.

"What's going on?" Nino asked.

At that moment, Liam's phone rang. It wasn't a stored number, but he still answered, placing his index finger on his mouth to tell his friends to keep quiet.

"Hello?"

 _"Liam! It's Lieutenant Raincomprix. I have some really bad news. Fire Ant didn't just steal Hawk Moth's Miraculous stole a technologically advanced shape shifting device that your brothe_ _r gave us. He's wanted me to phone you."_

"Why didn't he tell me himself? He's upstairs with Bridgette." The phone was silent, then footsteps could be heard. "Hello?"

 _"Get everyone away from there!"_ Félix shouted on the phone. Everyone's eyes widened and their mouths took in a gasp. Liam dashed out from behind the screen, confusing everyone, and dashed for the elevator, not realising he had dropped his phone.

"Liam, wait!" Nathaniel shouted as the four teens chased him. Liam got into the elevator and. "How are you gonna be able to beat him?"

"I'm not." Liam answered. "But you know who will." Liam was about to pull the elevator door shut but before he could, the door that led to the staircase was blasted open and Bridgette had been thrown at full force. The force of the door knocked Jalil unconscious and everyone started screaming. Mr Acier went to the staircase that the door was blasted from, only to receive shotgun shells in his shoulder.

"SHOCKWAVE!" Was shouted and a seismic blast landed on Nathalie, severely injuring her. Footsteps could be heard and Félix emerged. "Sorry, Ladies and Gentlemen. I'll make it simple..." Félix started to shrink and his clothes changed into Fire Ant's suit, helmet appearing before his face could change. "I'm after Liam Rejeter." Liam, Nino, Alya, Rose, Alix and Nathaniel snuck into the secret room Liam had opened. Alya quietly closed the door.

"We can't leave everyone out there!" Rose protested.

"But, we can't grass Liam up either." Nino retaliated.

"I agree." Alix said.

"Guys, trust me." Nathaniel said. "Liam can handle himself." As they argued, Liam's phone started ringing. Alya answered.

"Who is this?!"

 _"It's Ladybug. Is that Alya?!"_

"Ladybug, we need your help! Fire Ant's here! He's beaten up Bridgette Dupain, Jalil Kubdel's unconscious! I think-I think he's gonna kill us!"

 _"Hold on, we're coming!"_ The phone disconnected.

"There we go. Ladybug's on her way."

"What if we could beat him without Ladybug?" Liam asked. Everyone except Nathaniel said "huh?".

"You're gonna tell them, aren't you?" Nathaniel asked in shock.

"Tell us what?" Nino asked. Liam rolled his right sleeve up and showed his wristwatch. "No. I'm gonna show them." Liam tapped on the top and the Hornet suit encased him inside. Everyone was speechless.

"Y-you're the Hornet." Alya whispered.

"You fought Hawk Moth with LB and CN." Nino silently squealed.

"That's why you collapsed after the attack at school!" Rose responded.

Alix was still in shock, but regained her voice. "Why us? What makes us special to you that you'd reveal this to us?"

"Uh..." Nathaniel butted in. "I found out when he returned home one evening and took the mask off, not realising I was right next to him."

"The reason why you five are so special is because during the fight with Hawk Moth last month, five akumas were absorbed into my watch. That's why I kept having that nightmare I told you about. The times I was given an electric shock from you? That was... redeeming them. Now, I need their help." The Hornet held out his hand. "I need your help."

Everyone kept looking at each other, then Alix and Nathaniel took the Hornet's hand and they were encased in the akuma aura, except it wasn't black and purple, but silver and pink. As the aura cleared, the two removed the hands out of the Hornet's and could see the arms of their villainous selves, Timebreaker and Evillustrator. They looked at each other with nervousness.

"Hawk Moth's not gonna control us again, is he?" Timebreaker asked.

"No." The Hornet answered. "When we redeemed the akumas, they were freed from his command."

"And we're under yours now?" Evillustrator asked.

"I'm not gonna force you to do anything. You are your own bosses now."

Alya and Nino grabbed Liam's hand as well, making the change into Lady WiFi and the Bubbler.

"We're with you, Liam." Lady WiFi said.

"We'll help you take down Fire Ant." Bubbler stated. "Do you have a plan?"

The Hornet turned to Rose, who held her hands on her chest, slowly backing away. "It's okay, Rose. I understand." The Hornet turned back to the villains-turned-heroes, but before he could explain his plan, Rose placed her hand on his shoulder, changing her into Princess Fragrance. "You're brave, Rose. This takes courage."

"I-i still don't know if I can do this." The words escaped her mouth, butterflies in her stomach.

"Don't worry. Here's my plan: I'm gonna change back into Liam Rejeter and you lot are gonna hand me over to him, pretending to be under Hawk Moth's control. If you get asked how you were akumatized again, the answer is that I knew Fire Ant was coming after me and I didn't want to take the fall alone. Then Rose and Nino, you'll be using the elevator to take everyone to safety, telling Fire Ant that Ladybug's coming and using them as hostages. When you're in the elevator, let them know that you're not the villains anymore and tell them to play along. Alix, Nathaniel, you'll be keeping me restrained and showing that Fire Ant can trust you by taking two things off me: my sword hilt on my belt, and the gun under my left sleeve." The Hornet showed the gun under his costume, making everyone gasp. "Don't worry, non-lethal rounds. Take it off me. Beat me up if you have too. Lady WiFi, you're going to teleport to Ladybug, inform her of the situation and the plan so that she'll play along. When Fire Ant lets his guard down, we take him down. Does everyone understand what they're doing?" Everyone nodded and The Hornet changed back into Liam, smiling in glee. "Then let's give people a villain-free Christmas!"


	13. Breaking Through

Fire Ant had all the students surrounded by a ring of fire on the floor. The fire was large enough that only Ivan, Juleka, Kim and Alya's parents were visible. Everyone was screaming and panicking, but a blast into the roof from Fire Ant shut them up... and opened a hole into the garden.

"You can all keep yourselves safe." Fire Ant said. "I'm only after Liam Rejeter."

"Well, good luck!" Lila shouted. "He took off!" Fire Ant approached the Italian, passing through the ring of fire and grasping her neck.

"You know, I'd heard you were a better liar than this." Fire Ant threw Lila out of the ring, Lila landing on her stomach and groaning in pain. Fire Ant followed her, placing his foot on her back. "Why bother protecting him? He caused your second transformation. He humiliated you at the Halloween Party with his pink-haired girlfriend. Isn't that why you went after them... Volpina?"

"He apologised for that, and he helped make a dream of mine a reality."

"You weren't the only one, Lila!" Max shouted to get Fire Ant's attention. "He helped me after my 'Gamer' situation and found someone to help me make my game."

"He helped with my stage fright." Mylene shouted.

"And the best thing?" Sabrina said. "He showed us that we don't have to fear any of Hawk Moth's lackeys."

At that moment, Liam was thrown through the projector screen, rolling in the air until he landed on his back. Everyone stared at Liam.

"Are you sure about that?" Alix's voice shouted. Everyone stared at the projector screen as Timebreaker emerged, followed by Evillustrator, Princess Fragrance, Bubbler and Lady WiFi. The only thing different that people noticed was that Timebreaker didn't have her skates. "Looks like we've near killed him."

Alya's family gasped, and so did Juleka.

"Alya!" Alya's mother shouted. "What are you doing?"

"Alya's server is destroyed." Lady WiFi. "And your friends are disconnected as well."

"We answer to Hawk Moth." Princess Fragrance stated.

"Which means we also answer to you, Fire Ant." Evillustrator added.

Fire Ant took his foot off of Lila. "If she moves, don't hold back."

"I'll take care of these hostages." Princess Fragrance answered, walking to the students and holding her fragrance gun at them. Polistes whispered to Liam.

 _"Backpack."_ Fire Ant walked over to Liam and pinned him to the floor in the same manner as Lila.

"What did you do to Hawk Moth to make him want you dead?"

"I knew it." Liam answered. "You're doing this for him, aren't you?"

"He'll help me find the Hornet."

"You put us in hospital to lure the Hornet out and he kicked your butt, but did Hawk Moth help you? Did he find a lead on the Hornet to help you find him? Did he ever try and kill me himself?!" Fire Ant remained silent. "He's using you, Fire Ant. Just like how you're using Callum Terrence."

"What did you say?"

"You heard me. You've possessed Callum Terrence and you're using his body as a host."

"Yeah, okay. It _is_ Callum Terrence underneath this helmet, but how would you know if he was being controlled?"

"Because if he was doing this of his own free will, he would've gone after his sister's attacker. Instead, you're just being a mad dog for Hawk Moth."

Fire Ant pointed his arm at the crowd and readied a Shockwave. "Big mistake!" Not even looking, Fire Ant shot at the students, but when he turned, they were gone. "What?!" Fire Ant looked up at the hole he made and saw his hostages floating away in bubbles, with Bubbler, Lady WiFi and Princess Fragrance following them, Lady WiFi holding Lila over her shoulder and the unconscious adults. "NO!"

"I guess dogs really are dumb." Fire Ant screamed and was about to smash Liam's skull when Timebreaker interfered by shoving Fire Ant off at high speed. Evillustrator drew shackles around Fire Ant's hands and feet, pinning him on his stomach right below the hole. Liam got up and walked over. Stopping, Liam examined the sword hilt he now held. He saw a movable ring and turned it. The sword hilt then grew a blade 25 inches long. The blade seemed to be made of the green crystal that was stuck inside the hilt. The sword was easy to hold in one hand because it was quite light, like the blade wasn't there. With one swift swipe, Liam slashed the backpack that Fire Ant was wearing. Fire Ant screamed in pain and turned onto his back, seeing Liam, Timebreaker and Evillustrator standing over him.. "Now Callum can take his body back. You're finished, Fire Ant."

Fire Ant growled, placed his hands in front of him and exclaimed a phrase for a new power. "SPITFIRE!" The three friends were sent flying in a ball of fire. They landed out on the street were all of the students, and the three super humans, were being checked by the police that blocked of the entire street with cars and ambulances, including a helicopter. The unconscious adults were waking up in ambulances, unable to move due to the extent of their injuries. Timebreaker's helmet had smashed, showing all of Alix's face, including a singed ponytail and a burn on her right cheek, courtesy of Fire Ant. Evillustrator had been knocked unconscious, changing back into Nathaniel Kurtzberg, and Liam was nowhere to be seen. Fire Ant flew out into the street and landed near Timebreaker, gripping her neck and ready to crush her neck.

"FIRE ANT!" Félix shouted over a megaphone from the police barricade on the right of Fire Ant. "LET YOUR HOSTAGES GO!"

Fire Ant turned to face the detective. "You got Hawk Moth's family killed. Now you will lose yours."

"THAT GIRL HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS!"

"She holds significance to Liam."

Félix was silent, because another voice spoke through the mega phone.

"Let her go, Callum." Fire Ant turned again. This time, he saw a man and didn't say anything before he turned to Timebreaker and started squeezing the life out of her as she transformed back into Alix Kubdel. The man slipped through the barriers to talk to Fire Ant directly. "Are you listening to me? I said, let her go, son." The crowd gasped at this revelation. Fire Ant dropped Alix and the three remaining supers moved her and Nathaniel over to the paramedics whilst Fire Ant was walking towards his father, Jack Terrence.

"You're not Callum's father, Jack!"

"I'm talking to Callum, Fire Ant. Maybe I'm not your father, Callum. But you were 4 years old when I married your mother and I've raised you and Krystal like you were my own."

"You handed him in to the police!"

"I didn't hand you in, Callum. They knew what you had done. The whole school saw you. You beat up the Mayor's daughter!"

"He admitted it. And when you proved his motive- oh, wait. You **didn't** prove his motive, even though you had the proof!"

"I did! I handed over the footage of Krystal's assault. When I went back, they said the evidence had been lost. I knew it would be, so I preserved copies."

"Huh. I guess I was wrong about you."

"IT WOULDN'T BE THE FIRST TIME." A girl's voice came from the megaphone. Fire Ant didn't move, because he knew who it was.

"Get outta here, Krystal!" Jack shouted.

At the barricade, the 12-year-old blind girl stood, then used her cane and walked forward. Félix and Lieutenant Roger Raincomprix walked with her so she could stay on path. "Callum won't listen to you, dad. But he'll listen to me. I had to come." Krystal stopped. "That's far enough, officers. This is between brother and sister." Félix and Roger stopped, and Krystal kept walking, shifting her cane. "You wanna know something, Callum? I hated being blind until I learned how to live without my eyes. But right now, I'm glad that I'm blind, because I can't stand imagining the monster you've let yourself become, I never want to actually see it. If Mom could see you now."

"Don't bring Mom into this, Krystal. She would've been proud of me. Besides, if she loved us with everything, she wouldn't have remarried."

"Never say that again!" Krystal raised her voice. "Jack know this as well: Mom loved dad more than she ever loved Jack, and she loved us more than either of them combined. Now, break free from Fire Ant and come back to us!"

Fire Ant huffed. "How you know if Callum's breaking free?"

Krystal smirked. "Because he started referring to himself in the first person when I spoke. Fire Ant refers in third person. You'll be done soon!"

Fire Ant snarled. "ENOUGH! YOU GOT BRAINS, KID! TOO BAD I GOTTA BASH THEM OUT OF YA! SPITFI-" Before Fire Ant could finish, he froze. His helmet detached and fell to the ground, revealing his face. "NO!" His glowing red eyes started switching between glowing red and normal brown. "You're not killing my sister, Fire Ant!" At that point, there was woosh of air on Callum's hair. He turned to see the hero who had beaten him: Birdy and the heroes of Paris: Ladybug, Cat Noir and The Hornet.

"You've done well, Krystal." Ladybug congratulated the girl.

"We'll get your brother back!" Cat Noir added.

"And then you can be a family again for Christmas."


	14. Rejeter Solution

As the heroes stared face-to-face with Fire Ant, crowds cheered on, no one noticing that the Hornet was hovering above them.

"Ladybug." Fire Ant said. "Cat Noir. I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting. Not in this lifetime anyway."

Ladybug was curios about that statement, but ignored it. "Let Callum go, Fire Ant."

"First, I've got a message for the Hornet." Fire Ant did not anticipate what would happen next. The Hornet dropped down from the sky, landing on Fire Ant's back, damaging the backpack even more and making everyone scream in shock. Jack Terrence grabbed hold of Krystal, held her like a mother holding her child over her shoulder, and ran back towards the police.

"I'm all ears." The Hornet said.

Fire Ant groaned on the floor. "The Hàojié demand your powers."

"Tell the Hàojié to take a number. BUZZKILL!" The Hornet's left hand generated a yellow sphere and he pressed it down on Fire Ant's jet wings. The reaction was Fire Ant screaming in a high frequency that everyone covered their ears. When the screaming stopped, Fire Ant was unaffected.

"BIG MISTAKE!" Fire Ant shot up, grabbed the Hornet's throat and flew him into the air. Ladybug and Cat Noir were powerless as their Miraculous started beeping.

"We're about to change back!" Cat Noir shouted.

"We can't help him." Ladybug added.

"I can do my best!" Birdy responded, using his bow to shoot an arrow onto a building rooftop, then grappling up. He was followed by The Bubbler heading straight for Fire Ant.

"Nino?" Ladybug and Cat Noir asked.

"He was one of the Hornet's akuma heroes." Ladybug said. At that moment, Lady WiFi and Princess Fragrance also flew past, heading to combat Fire Ant. "Did he release all of them?"

"We can't solve that right now, m'lady." Cat Noir answered. "We've gotta find somewhere to change." Félix ran over to them.

"About to change back?" He questioned. The heroes nodded. "Camembert in the fridge, jar of cookies in the kitchen. Stay in separate rooms."

"She knows who I am."

Félix was taken aback. "When did-? You know what, nevermind. My s-superhero brother is probably getting his ass handed to hi-" Félix was interrupted by Fire Ant landing on his back next to the heroes. "Hornet, you coulda killed him!"

"My fault!" Birdy shouted. Lady WiFi threw a pause icon at Fire Ant and froze him in place.

"He's not going anywhere." The former villain shouted. Ladybug and Cat Noir ran into the Rejeter house to get their cheese and cookies. The duo made it to the kitchen and found the foods Félix told them about. Cat Noir changed back into Adrien, sending Plagg into the fridge and onto the camembert. Ladybug grabbed the jar of cookies and was about to walk out the door, but stopped and simply closed it.

"What are you doing?" Adrien asked his bugaboo.

"We can talk about it later." Ladybug said. "But since I know who you are, it seems fair that you should know who I am." Adrien gasped as Ladybug uttered, "Spots off.", revealing herself to be Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Adrien was shocked and couldn't close his mouth. The girl he spent time fighting akumas with was the girl who sat behind him in class. Marinette blushed and bit her lip. "L-let's get our kwamis back to strength, then we can take down Hawk Moth."

Back outside, The Hornet, Lady WiFi, Bubbler and Princess Fragrance lowered themselves over Fire Ant.

"We need his backpack." The Hornet stated. "Bubbler, Fragrance. Get ready to subdue him." Princess Fragrance prepared her fragrance bottle and Bubbler readied his bubble wand. "Release him, Lady WiFi." Lady WiFi crossed out the pause symbol on her phone, freeing Fire Ant. The Hornet pulled him up onto his backside and then detached the backpack, disintegrating the costume and freeing Callum Terrence. He was wearing a black track jacket, blue jeans and black shoes with white soles and laces. He slowly came around and opened his eyes, showing them as brown. Looking around, Callum saw everyone he had held hostage, then turned to see his stepfather and sister. Callum groaned in guilt. The Hornet knelt down.

"You're not to blame for this." The Hornet reassured the boy.

"Aren't I?" Callum answered. "I let him get into my head. I let him use me to try and achieve his own goals. Teaming up with Hawk Moth and causing that explosion near my old school."

"You're not the only one who was brainwashed." Princess Fragrance answered. Callum recognised the voice instantly.

"Rose Lavillant?"

"You remember me."

Callum stood up, groaning due to his injuries. "You were in the class when I beat up Chloe. I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No. You didn't hurt anyone."

Callum turned and saw Alix and Nathaniel being resuscitated.

"Like The Hornet said." The Bubbler reaffirmed. "Not your fault."

"If anyone dies... That's on me. Don't say it's not. It'll be on me." Callum sighed. "Please tell me Krystal's okay."

"She's safe." Lady WiFi answered.

"There's someone who can undo this damage." The Hornet said. "Wait here." The Hornet ran into the house, seeing Chloe about to open the kitchen door. "Open it and you're dead!" Chloe screamed. "Go! Get outta here!" Chloe screamed again and ran out of the house. The Hornet opened the door and saw Marinette and Adrien. Closing and locking the door, he transformed back into Liam Rejeter. "So the cat's outta the bag?"

"Look at you!" Adrien said. "And your puns."

"Puns are funnier when you don't realise you've made one, so you don't emphasise it."

"You knew who we were the whole time." Marinette stated. "How were you able to keep this a secret from us this whole time?"

"I knew it wasn't my secret to tell. But when I heard Adrien liked Marinette, I just had to get you two together. Wait- what am i doing? Callum's free and we need the Miraculous Ladybug."

Marinette nodded and clenched her fist. "Tikki, are you charged?"

"Yes. I'm ready to go."

"Then, SPOTS ON!" Marinette transformed into the superheroine. "We can discuss the whole thing afterwards. Priority one is keeping Paris safe." Ladybug walked outside, and threw her yo-yo into the air. "MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!" Millions of tiny ladybugs scattered around and repaired the damage caused. The hole leading into the huge shelter was fixed, the Rejeter house was restored to normal and Alix and Nathaniel gasped and started breathing again, their burns healed. The damage inflicted on Fire Ant's backpack was also repaired. Cat Noir appeared on the roof of the Rejeter house, while Birdy used his cape to glide onto the roof. Ladybug went up onto the roof as well. The Hornet stayed on the ground to deal with Callum, Fire Ant's backpack, the students and the akuma heroes. He escorted Callum to the police with Jack and Krystal, the flew to the students on the other side of the street.

"Is everyone okay?" The Hornet asked.

The crowd jumbled their "Yeah" and "Uh-huh" answers. Alix, Nathaniel, Bubbler, Lady WiFi and Princess Fragrance joined the Hornet, standing behind him.

"Bubbler, go onto the rooftop and ask Birdy for the Recall Shifter, he'll know what you're talking about." Bubbler flew up to the rooftop. Sabrina then spoke up.

"Wait. Where's Liam?!" The ginger girl panicked.

"Liam Rejeter? I'll see if I can find him, but I wouldn't fret. If all your injuries were by the Miraculous Ladybug, we should assume that his were as well." The Hornet then thought to himself with Polistes. 'I actually do feel loads better. Didn't think Ladybug's power would work. Actually, I'm lying, I thought it would repair some of the damage but not all of it.'

 _'Liam, there's something you need to know. Why I've kept quiet all this time.'_

'What is it?'

 _'_ _Solehnos and I, we have fought each other in past lives, but we've encountered the Miraculous heroes too.'_

'What?' Liam and Polistes' internal conversation was interrupted by the Bubbler's return. Bubbler handed him a small cuboid with one square side red and the rest greyish blue. "Thanks. Is Bridgette Dupain here?" Bridgette walked out of one of the ambulances. "Your husband's over at the other barricade, he's really desperate to know you're okay."

Bridgette began walking, but stopped next to the Hornet, and lowered her head to talk to him. "These guys owe Liam Rejeter big time."

"They'll repay him. Get going." Bridgette walked over and the Hornet faced the students and adult once more. "Ladies and Gentlemen." The Hornet pointed the red side of the cuboid at the crowd. "Could you please look into the red square, please?" As soon as everyone was staring at the red square, the Hornet pressed on all sides and everyone's irises glowed red. "Don't move." The hornet whispered to the five students behind him. After 20 seconds, everyone's eyes were back to normal. The five students were confused.

"What did you just do?" Princess Fragrance whispered.

"Altered their memories. They now have no knowledge of who you are underneath your akuma guises. I do apologise for saying this, but fair warning to all of you, if you let slip my identity, or any of each other's, I'll use it on you and whoever you tell."

"Understandable." Alix responded in a whisper. "My lips are sealed."

"Bubbler, WiFi, Fragrance. Get out of sight and I'll change you back. Do not return on the same route you leave on." The three new heroes left by flying into the air. The Hornet turned to face Alix and Nathaniel. "I gotta go and do this to the the cops. They'll remember everything except who you are. That also includes when you were first akumatized by Hawk Moth."

"What about Félix and Bridgette?" Nathaniel asked.

"They'll still know. We can trust them. My big worry is if they'll trust us. I wouldn't worry about right now. Alix, you must be worried about Jalil. The two of you go and help your friends." The Hornet flew over to alter everyone's memories, except for Félix and Bridgette. Then, he flew onto the roof and joined Ladybug, Cat Noir and Birdy. "Where are the others?"

"Still hunting Hawk Moth." Birdy answered. At that moment, Birdy received a call from Knightowl in his hidden earpiece. "Knightowl. What's your status?"

 _"Mission failed."_ Hawk Moth's voice came out of the earpiece. Birdy growled. _"The police down there can hear me too. Melodie and Agreste are still standing. But, I got leverage. Two girls came to the hotel looking for that rock star. I want Adrien Agreste, Liam Rejeter and Marinette Dupain-Cheng. In 15 minutes or the girls die. Anyone else tries to come to me and the hotel goes boom. Capiche?"_

"I got it." Birdy was disconnected.

"Well then," Ladybug said. "Let's not keep him waiting."


	15. Moth to the Flame

_Le Grand Paris Hotel, Main Lobby, 3:49 pm._

Hawk Moth was surrounded by his butterflies once again, his enemies being forced outside and his two hostages being held to the walls by a number of the darkened butterflies. "Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" The villain cackled. "Oh, I love the feeling of justice!"

"Justice?" One of the hostages asked in a Spanish accent. "This is terrorism!"

Hawk Moth turned to face the hostage. "And who are you to assume that I'm a terrorist?"

"Kayla Hernandez. Daughter of a man who spent half his life disarming bombs and breaking terrorists! You're manipulating people's fears to get you want!"

Hawk Moth clenched his cane and the butterflies that pinned Kayla began moving, applying pressure to her whole body and causing some... unusual sensations. Kayla whimpered and quickly struggled to get the butterflies to move away. She succeeded, but the butterflies began pressing down on her neck, choking her.

"No!" The other hostage shouted. "Stop!"

Hawk Moth turned to face the other girl. She had long wavy brown hair, fair skin, and brown eyes. Her clothing was covered by the butterflies. "Why?"

"Because she's done nothing to you. It's not her you want, or you wouldn't have asked for those three people."

Hawk Moth hummed. "You're smart, kid." The butterflies moved away from Kayla's neck and she coughed and gasped for air, then spoke again.

"Why do you want Liam Rejeter? I met him at the hospital this morning. He seems nice, and he's the president's son! You kill him, you're gonna get killed."

"Then I'll be back with my family! Rejeter's father will feel the pain that I feel every day."

"You lost your kids?" The brown haired girl asked.

"Yeah, now I'm getting revenge!"

"I thought you wanted Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous. Are you just not bothering with them?" Kayla said. Hawk Moth whacked his cane on Kayla's head, knocking her out. "Hmph. HMHM. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

* * *

Ladybug, Cat Noir, The Hornet, and Birdy were stood on the roof of the Rejeter house.

"How did he defeat them?" Birdy asked.

"I'm not sure." Cat Noir answered.

"He might have killed them!"

"We'll take him down, Birdy!" Ladybug said.

"I promise we'll take him down." The Hornet stated. "Can you do me a favor and help the students and police while the three of us discuss how we're gonna do this?" Birdy nodded and used his cape to glide down to the street. "Guys, as much as we could kick Hawk Moth's ass with our powers, I think we may have to do this without them."

"Are you saying we obey him?" Cat Noir asked.

"I'm saying we go there like this and those girls are dead. We head over there as Liam, Adrien, and Marinette and we may be able to stall him so that other people can take him down."

"We're the superheroes!" Ladybug retaliated.

"Fine, but I'm going as Liam Rejeter!" The Hornet flew off and landed out of sight behind another one of the houses. Ladybug groaned.

"He got too angry, too quickly just then."

Liam ran out from an alleyway.

"LIAM!" Nathaniel shouted. The two buds ran and hugged each other. "You okay? Hawk Moth's-"

"I know. I'm going."

Ladybug shouted from the roof. "You can't!"

"I'm not letting him kill those hostages, Ladybug. If we give him what he wants, we may be able to stall him."

"And if he just kills you?"

"Then I'll die a moron."

"Not funny, Liam!" Alix shouted.

"I'm going and you guys can't stop me." Liam turned to the direction of Le Grand Paris, only to be halted by Bridgette and Félix.

"But we can," Bridgette said firmly.

"You can. You can let another fucking Terrorist claim some more lives. Or you can let me stall him enough for you and the police to take him down."

"And what would dad say?" Félix asked.

"We don't have time for this. Are you with me or not?" Félix was silent. "Guess not. Maybe Blitzwolf's still on your conscience." Liam walked past Félix.

"Liam," Félix said, causing his brother to stop in his tracks. "You'll never get there fast enough on foot. But I'm taking you myself."

"We're both taking you," Bridgette added. "And if you die, just wait till I get to the afterlife. You'll be in misery for eternity."

Ladybug and Cat Noir jumped down from the roof.

"And what do we do?" Cat Noir asked.

Bridgette pretended she didn't know the civilians under the masks. "Find the rest of the superheroes and prepare to takedown Hawk Moth."

The three walked over to the police cars and got in one of them. As they walked, Liam stopped at the police van that Callum Terrence had been put into.

"You know, if it wasn't for the cuffs, I'd be shaking your hand right now."

"For putting you in the hospital?" Callum asked.

"For giving Chloe Bourgeois a wake-up call." Liam turned and saw Fire Ant's backpack being loaded into another police car, then got into the back of one with Bridgette next him and Félix driving. The car set off. Ladybug and Cat Noir addressed those who were left.

"Police!" Ladybug shouted. "Get the students to City Hall. Then head to Le Grand Paris. Liam Rejeter's in over his head." Birdy walked over to the duo with Nathaniel and Alix.

"These guys have got something they wanna tell you." Birdy said before he stood back to let Nathaniel and Alix speak.

"I think there's something wrong with Liam," Nathaniel said. "He's been having mood swings in the past month. And I know what caused them. But he should've been fine now. There's something..."

"Maybe it's puberty." Birdy said. "They can cause mood swings and he looks due for a growth spurt." Alix, in a blind rage, punched Birdy in his goggles and broke his lenses.

"Puberty doesn't make you _that_ angry! He's been manipulated by Hawk Moth before and it might be happening again!"

"Calm down!" Cat Noir said. "We'll go and follow him. But Félix can keep him in check. In the meantime..." Cat Noir noticed Rose, Nino, and Alya returning to the crowd of students. "In the meantime, try and get a hold of Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste. Liam's just one of the people he wanted. And DON'T GO TO THE HOTEL!" Alix and Nathaniel gasped and slowly walked back to the rest of their classmates. Cat Noir turned to Ladybug. "We better head him off and join him."

"What?!" Ladybug was surprised.

"We are Ladybug and Cat Noir with or without the costumes. And if Hawk Moth sees us, he'll kill Liam."

Ladybug sighed. "I'll follow you on this one, but please don't make me regret it."

* * *

Cat Noir and Ladybug set off for Le Grand Paris. Arriving, they transformed back into Marinette and Adrien before approaching the main entrance. The police car arrived and Liam opened the door to get out, but Bridgette grabbed his arm.

"Be careful, Liam." She quivered out of her mouth.

"I will. And I'm sorry for bringing... him up."

Bridgette nodded and let him leave. Félix waited in the car as the three teens entered the hotel. Bridgette spoke to Félix. "We need to tell Liam the truth."

"How do you think he'll react?" Félix responded. "He wasn't too happy with us telling him to stay away from here. We drop a bombshell like that and he'll go berserk."

As Félix and Bridgette argued, Marinette, Adrien, and Liam entered the hotel lobby. They all saw copper barrels around the lobby that were wired with bombs. Liam saw the two hostages being pinned high on the wall by black butterflies. He saw Kayla and gasped.

"Kayla Hernandez!" He shouted. "The girl from the hospital!"

"She could use one right now." Hawk Moth chuckled, emerging from the pillar near the reception desk. "And she'll get one if you willingly sacrifice yourselves."

"Why are you going to kill _us_?" Adrien asked.

"Your parents caused my family's death in Canberra! The Prime Minister covered it up and said that Blitzwolf caused it, but I know he was lying because he asked for MY gun to kill Blitzwolf!"

"We know what happened," Marinette responded. "And there was also Melodie, Kid Mime, Mercury, Sparrow, and Gavroche. You've already killed Gavroche."

"He didn't have any children, so I had to make do with him."

Liam got angry. "You're a disgrace to your family!" Hawk Moth snarled and Hawk Moth's butterflies released his hostages and pinned Marinette and Adrien to the walls instead. Kayla slowly stirred and woke up, with the other hostage next to her. Kayla wore blue denim jeans and a denim jacket over a black track hoodie, black sneakers, and fingerless black gloves. She saw Liam and recognized him instantly. Then she looked around and saw the bombs, each with a red light that indicated armed. The other hostage remained with Kayla.

"Kayla?" The girl called out quietly. "My name is Laura. We need to get out of here."

Kayla was fully awake. "You go. I've seen my dad's methods of these types of bombs. I can disarm them."

"You've been hit over the head, you'll have a concussion!"

"Just go, Laura! Liam can stall him so you can escape." Laura reluctantly snuck out through the fire exit. Kayla snuck behind a bomb placed behind the reception desk. As she proceeded to work on disarming the bomb, Hawk Moth moved towards Liam and pressed the tip of his swordstick on Liam's chest.

"And how would you know that, boy?!"

"Because I was told all about it. And how everyone who was on that team was broken by that event. Erickson and his wife, Félix, and Bridgette, Mime and Mercury. They gave up that life afterward and Félix and Bridgette kept on trying to help people. Félix is a detective and Bridgette is a firefighter. Mime and Mercury regret it every day. Hell, Mime admitted that they were, at that point, villains. But there is something else." Kayla disarmed the bomb, its red light switched off and proceeded to the second one to the left of the staircase. Marinette and Adrien noticed Kayla but remained silent. "What would you tell your family if they were here? Right now, seeing you about to murder three teens for something their older relatives did years ago?"

Hawk Moth lowered his sword. "I'd tell them that I was doing it because they lost their lives because of your relative's stupidity."

Kayla successfully disarmed the second bomb. In order to get to the third bomb, she had to cross the stairs and one turn from Hawk Moth would expose her. Knowing this, Liam demanded something from Hawk Moth. "Look me directly in the eyes and tell me that your family. Wife, children, whoever you lost." Kayla snuck over and began working on the third bomb. "Look me in the eye and say that they would be okay with you slaughtering three high school students because some relatives of theirs took down the world's most wanted terrorist." Hawk Moth looked directly into Liam's eyes, giving Kayla the time to disarm the third bomb and move onto the final bomb next to the hotel elevators. As Hawk Moth looked into Liam's eyes, he spoke.

"My family would be okay with me slaughtering three high school students because some relatives of theirs took down the world's most wanted terrorist."

Liam was wide-eyed. So were Adrien and Marinette.

"I guess there's nothing we can do," Marinette said.

"No, there isn't." Hawk Moth replied. Kayla had finally disarmed the final bomb and grabbed a baseball bat signed 'Jagged Stone' near the stairs and began sneaking up on the supervillain.

"Then could you at least tell us your real name?" Adrien asked. "If you're going to kill us, then that information goes with us anyway."

Hawk Moth huffed. "Alright. My name is Stan Billiton. And since you're gonna die..." Hawk Moth clicked his fingers and Adrien was pulled in front of him. "Your mother was easy to fool. I really wanted to kill her. But she reminded me of my own wife too much. So, I sent her to the little town of Hartlepool in England. Too bad you'll never see her again."

"Yeah, nothing we can do about it." Liam interrupted. "You didn't say anything about her though." Liam shifted his chin and Kayla struck Hawk Moth on the back of his head, knocking him out.

"How do you like it?" Kayla asked, knowing she wouldn't get an answer. The black butterflies released Adrien and Marinette from their grasp, but Marinette was now hanging on. Adrien quickly got underneath her to catch her, and she let go. Liam checked on Hawk Moth.

"He's down for the count." Liam looked at Kayla. "You okay?"

"I think I got a concussion." The Spanish girl answered. "But I'll live."

"I was hoping to see you again, Kayla. Just didn't think it would be like this."

"You were hoping to see me again?"

"Yes. Let's get Moth Boy into a cop car and I'll explain why. Actually, you guys go ahead and get some medical attention. I'll see you out there when the police take this guy in." Adrien, Marinette, and Kayla nodded and walked out into the street where Félix and Bridgette were waiting in a car. Liam turned Hawk Moth over so he could see his face. "I once saw Gabriel Agreste and was ready to beat him up and cuff him because I thought he was Hawk Moth. Since then, you have used a teenage boy to put people in hospital, attack and almost kill my brother's friends, plus my brother and his girlfriend and then you unleash your evil onto Gabriel Agreste to try and get him to kill his own son, then you send Fire Ant to steal Nooroo back, and you wire this place to blow and take two innocent girls hostage!" Liam grabbed Hawk Moth's swordstick and jabbed it into his shoulder. Hawk Moth remained unconscious. "Scumbags like you deserve to rot in hell! If I took your life right now... Ha. Everyone would know, nobody would care." Liam pulled out his gun from his sleeve. "Non-lethal, not from a distance anyway."

"Put the gun down, Liam," Félix said from the door, standing in a position so that no one could see what Liam was about to do. "It's over. He's lost." Liam took some heavy breaths through his teeth. "He's corrupting you with the akumas. You kill him and he gets what he wants and no gets justice for what he's done to them." Liam's breathing became controlled and he saw what he was about to do. Liam's eyes widened and he held the gun out to Félix.

"Take it!" Liam shot out of his mouth. Félix grabbed the gun and Liam walked outside.

* * *

The former Quantic Kids stood while more police officers barged into the hotel with guns live rounds aimed at the villain. Adrien was being held by his father, Marinette was being hugged by her parents and aunt, and Kayla was embracing her parents. Liam took notice of nothing. He kept walking until he was on the bridge over the water. When he was there, he chucked last meal over into the waters below. Liam looked at his hands and saw that they were trembling. When he turned his head to his left, he saw Kayla stood there.

"That's affected you really badly, hasn't it?" She asked.

Liam became pale. "It did. It really did."

Kayla walked and stood right next to Liam. "What happened? While you were in there on your own with Hawk Moth?"

Liam felt like he was going to be sick again. "I-i-i." Liam turned and looked Kayla directly in the eye. "I stabbed him with his cane and then..." Liam gulped, started breathing rapidly and tears began streaming. "I-i pulled out a gun from my sleeve. I had so much rage." Liam clenched his fists. "I really wanted to kill him. Wipe him off the face of the earth. If my brother didn't come in, I'd..." Kayla pulled her sleeve over her hand and wiped Liam's tears for him.

"If anyone else was there, I think they would've gone through with it."

"But I've been raised by my brother for the last... I've lost count. I know I'm better than this. And I'm wondering why I couldn't restrain myself?" Kayla turned Liam round and hugged him, his head resting on her shoulder, her head resting on his.

'It's because these akumas are proving more painful than I thought!' Polistes said in Liam's head. 'Take the watch off, Liam. Right now, I'm doing you more harm than good.' Liam pulled his right sleeve up and saw his watch, smoking.

"Is that on fire?!" Kayla shouted.

"QUIET!" Liam responded. He removed his watch, wincing in pain. Kayla gasped as she saw the damage when the watch was removed.

"Oh my god!" The girl whispered. The watch had left a deep second-degree burn on Liam's wrist. The watch actually took pieces of Liam's flesh as it detached. Liam caught it and put it in his pocket. "Sorry, Liam, but an infection will kill you. I NEED A MEDIC! THIS BOY'S BEEN BURNED!" Mercury ran over to Liam and Kayla and immediately saw the burn.

"Hospital! NOW!" Mercury said. With no time for argument, Liam was swept off his feet by Mercury and they disappeared. Marinette ran over to Kayla.

"What just happened?" The bluenette asked the girl.

"He removed his watch, it was emitting smoke! There was a huge burn mark on the entire wrist! The watch had flesh attached to it!"

Marinette gasped and covered her mouth. "Then where-?"

"Hospital. We need to tell his brother!"

Marinette nodded. "Come on!" Marinette and Kayla ran back and everyone was concerned.

"Marinette, what's going on?" Sabine asked her daughter.

"Liam. He's-"

"He's got a second-degree burn on his wrist!" Kayla panicked. Félix walked out of the hotel. "His watch was on fire! That superhero's taken him to the hospital!"

"Calm down!" Marinette said. "He'll be fine. But, Félix, Bridgette, when that superhero comes back..."

"We know," Bridgette said. At that moment, Mercury returned.

"Doctors are saying they can treat it. He's at Hôpital Cochin."

Félix nodded, then Hawk Moth was dragged out of the hotel. Félix swiped the Moth Miraculous from him and pocketed it.

"You will never get it back." The detective said. Hawk Moth transformed back into the copy of Gabriel Agreste."Stan Billiton? You're under arrest for numerous counts of terrorist activity." Stan was put into the back of a police van and Félix and Bridgette got into their car and drove off to the hospital...


	16. Slowing Down

_Hôtel de Ville, 4:15 pm._

Miss Bustier's students were all stood outside of the City Hall, along with Gabriel Agreste's assistant Nathalie, Adrien's bodyguard Mr. Acier and Alix's brother Jalil, and Alya's parents and sisters, freezing in the cold. They had tried to get into the building before, but Chloe walked in first and locked everyone out.

"Let us in, Chloe!" Lila shouted.

"We're all freezing to death out here, Miss Bourgeois!" Nathalie added.

Chloe spoke over the speaker. _"And I care why? You're not exactly upper class."_

At that moment, a huge black limo pulled up near the building. The back passenger doors opened and out walked four muscular men all wearing black suits and ties on top of white shirts. They all wore black tinted sunglasses, black leather gloves and had white earpieces in their ears. When they were all out, a man emerged from the limo. He had the same outfit on, but had no sunglasses, showing his blue eyes and had no hair. Everyone gasped at his presence.

"Good to see the thermal suits work." The man said. He walked towards the City Hall, with the four men walking in a square formation. The students stepped backward as he came close to the door. He knocked on it five times, and a security camera turned to see who it was. The door immediately opened and revealed Mayor Andre Bourgeois. "I assume you'll let these people in as well, Andre. I was informed that they were sent here under the orders of Ladybug, yes?"

"O-o-o-of Course. Everyone come on in." Mayor Bourgeois walked back into the building's main hall, with the bald man, his four bodyguards and the rest of the people outside. Chloe heard the commotion and came to investigate.

"I thought I said they weren't allowed-" Chloe stopped herself when she saw the bald man, yelling at the sight of him. "AGH! Mr. President! I'm so sorry!"

"I, too apologize for our unprofessional behavior, Mr. Rejeter."

"Apology accepted." The president answered. "And feel free to call me Bryan. I am sorry for having to do this so close to Christmas Day, but a disturbing matter has been brought to my attention. We should discuss this privately."

"Of course." The President and Mayor walked off to the Mayor's office. The students started whispering about Bryan, who they knew was Liam's father. Chloe walked down and began belittling her classmates.

"Just because Liam's lowered himself to the level of you peasants, doesn't mean he'll stop me from putting you in your place!"

"Yes, he will!" Nathaniel retaliated. "He just won't let us put **you** in your place."

Chloe scoffed. "He's smart. Look at what happened with Callum Terrence."

Alya, not considering the witnesses or consequences, saw red. She dashed and punched Chloe straight in the nose, knocking her to the ground, causing blood to run and security guards to pin Alya to the ground. Everyone was shocked by Alya's actions.

"Alya!" Alya's father shouted. "That was out of order."

Alya refused to struggle against the guards, knowing what she had done was wrong. She relaxed and the guards released her.

"I'm sorry, dad," Alya said.

"What's going on down here?!" The President shouted as he and Mayor Bourgeois returned.

"Daddy!" Chloe ran into her father's arms. "That evil witch punched for no reason!"

"That is not true, Mr. Mayor!" Nino defended his girlfriend. "Chloe provoked Alya. Chloe said that Liam won't stop her from putting us in our place."

"Then I said that he would." Nathaniel continued. "But he'd also make sure we didn't get revenge on her."

"And then Chloe brought up Callum Terrence."

The Mayor gasped. "He was just on the news! He's been unmasked as Fire Ant."

"That's why we left you here." The President said. "I needed to discuss a big issue." The President walked and talked. "You see, Miss Bourgeois, I have received a DVD disc that contained security footage from College Francois Dupont High School. It displays you and..." Bryan looked at the students. "...some of these students in a Science classroom. The big incident in the recording is you pinning a girl to the table and pouring a cup of liquid into her eyes. Can you identify that girl, Chloe?"

Rose answered instead. "Krystal Terrence. She's Callum's sister. That liquid was acid and Krystal was permanently blinded by that atta-"

Chloe stopped Rose. "Ever heard the phrase Snitches Get Stitches, Lavillant?"

"Chloe, I've had enough of your antics!" Bryan shouted, lowering his voice after getting Chloe's attention. "I know what you did to that girl. And do you know what the tragic news was that they had to deal with? Their mother had died. Callum Terrence had to deal with his mother dying and his sister being viciously attacked and blinded. And that's not mentioning the cover-up. That's why I came here. You will not step out of line anymore, Bourgeois. Due to the seriousness of this and your father's actions of covering it up, you cannot say 'jump' and have him reply 'how high' anymore. Effective tomorrow, Andre Bourgeois is no longer the Mayor of Paris."

Everyone gasped at what Bryan said. Chloe was shocked. "You can't do that!"

"You and your father have covered up an acid attack through blackmail! Now, I do believe Callum Terrence should not have beaten you up and his exclusion was justified, but he would not have done that had you not scarred his sister. But..." Bryan turned around to face the Mayor. "I'll allow you to keep ownership of your home. You can still stay at Le Grand Paris."

"Yeah. Assuming Hawk Moth doesn't blow it up with Liam."

Bryan was startled by what Chloe said. "What did you say?"

"Hawk Moth had two hostages there and bombs. He wanted Liam and Adrien Agreste. It may be getting covered in the news."

Mayor Bourgeois walked into the reception desk. "I may be able to see it on the new TV screens." He pressed a button and TV screens on the main entrance wall switched on. "Had them installed after the Darkblade attack in case we ever got locked in here again." The TV showed Nadja Chamack at Le Grand Paris.

* * *

 _Le Grand Paris_

Marinette, Adrien, and Kayla were being tended to by paramedics while the remaining heroes were examining the hotel. Police and news crew surrounded the Bourgeois home. Nadja Chamack was conducting her report, staring at the camera and holding her microphone.

"The supervillain known to Paris as Hawk Moth has now been identified as Stan Billiton, once a bodyguard for the Prime Minister of Australia. While Billiton's motive appeared to have changed, it is not yet clear what his new intentions were. However, he has had his face reconstructed to resemble the likeness of the world-renowned fashion designer Gabriel Agreste. He also took two hostages and demanded the presence of three teenagers confirmed to be..." Her microphone was snatched by Birdy.

"To be safe from further harm." Knightowl's sidekick blurted. "Along with the two hostages. That's what you were going to say, wasn't it?"

Nadja stuttered. "Er... Y-yes!"

"Good." The boy pulled Nadja down to his height. "Keep sticking your nose where it doesn't belong and someone will break it!" Birdy let Nadja go and proceeded to check on Marinette, who was being seen for injuries in the back of an ambulance. Birdy walked into the back as the paramedic left them alone to check on Adrien. Marinette was sat up on the stretcher. "Are you okay, Madame?"

Marinette looked at Birdy cautiously. 'Does he know I'm Ladybug?' She thought to herself. 'I hope not.' She finally spoke. "I'm fine, Thank You." Marinette expressed surprise. "You're that hero from New York! Birdy, right?"

Birdy nodded. "Yes. That's me."

Marinette smiled. "I have a lot of questions, but first, is Adrien Agreste okay?"

"Adrien is currently being tended to. He's okay."

"I'm fine too!" Kayla's voice shouted from the side of the ambulance's exterior. "Thanks for asking! Laura's safe too, just letting you know."

"Sorry!" Marinette replied. "Actually, Kayla, could I speak to you face-to-face?"

Kayla walked around to the back doors of the ambulance.

"I'll leave you two to it." Birdy said. "I'm gonna help search the hotel. See if Hawk Moth left any nice surprises." Birdy chuckled and left the two girls alone.

"Okay, Kayla." Marinette started. "How many people have you told about Liam's burn?"

"You, your mom, the superheroes." The girl answered.

"Great. Could you do Liam a huge favor? Don't tell anyone else about it? Liam said that watch is not normal and could cause harm in the wrong hands. To keep it out of the wrong hands, he tries to keep it a secret, so if anyone asks, tell them that he got that from Fire Ant."

"Uh, okay," Kayla said.

"And also, the Hotel was evacuated earlier. What were you and Laura doing here?"

"We'd been invited by Jagged Stone. He wanted us to perform at his New Year concert."

"Huh. Liam's band are doing that as well. Our classmates were getting him some gifts." Marinette's eyes widened. "I need to phone my classmates!" Marinette grabbed her phone from her purse, almost pulling Tikki out as well. Marinette scrolled through her contacts and pressed on Alya, phoning her.

 _"Marinette!"_

"Alya! Thank goodness you're okay."

 _"Yeah, we're okay. All of us were sent to City Hall by Ladybug. Tell me you're okay!"_

"I'm fine. Adrien, The hostages, we're safe. Liam's fine as well." The students could be heard cheering. "Hawk Moth's defeated as well. And they've got him in custody. Some heroes from New York tried to stop him, but the true hero is one of the hostages."

 _"Come again?"_

"Hawk Moth had Adrien, Liam and I stuck in our tracks, but in order to trap us, he had to free the hostages. One of them, her name is Kayla Hernandez. She disarmed the bombs while we distracted Hawk Moth, then she knocked him out with a baseball bat."

 _"Sweet. I heard she's in Miss Bernard's class."_

"I never saw her at school. Look, Liam got a bad burn on his wrist. A superhero named Mercury's took him to the hospital. I hope he's okay."

" _Wait, if superheroes are there, why doesn't Ladybug use her powers to clean everything up?"_

"Ladybug and Cat Noir..." Marinette had to tell the truth. "Aren't here yet. But there are other heroes. Like Knightowl, Birdy, a hero with the same powers as the mime villain, a heroine with a flute that can turn into a laser sword and a super speedster named Mercury. Gabriel Agreste and my parents are here too. Ooh, wait for a second Alya." Marinette walked out of the ambulance and saw Knightowl and Melodie exiting the hotel. Melodie gave a thumbs up. "The hotel's been given the all clear. Looks like we can go back in."

 _"Brilliant! We'll meet you down there. Hope Liam's gifts survived."_

* * *

 _20 Minutes Later_

The police and paramedics had left the area after giving the three teens the all clear. The superheroes and Gabriel Agreste were following the police. They wanted a conversation with Stan Billiton, Adrien was staying at the hotel with Marinette, the two of them were in the lobby armchairs.

"It's been one hell of a day," Adrien said.

"Adrien," Marinette responded. "I'm sorry about everything that's happened."

"It's not your fault."

"I can't believe it. All this time..."

"I never believed it would be you, yet there are so many similarities between you."

"All this time... We've been in the same room every school day."

"It's hard to comprehend. I was in love with you all along."

"Same here. Wh-what do we do now?"

"Well..." Adrien stroked his chin. "We still haven't been on that first date," Adrien stood up. "M'lady." Adrien winked.

As Adrien and Marinette talked in the armchairs, Marinette's parents, Kayla and her family were at the reception desk, talking to each other.

"Are you Kayla Hernandez?" Tom asked.

"Si," Kayla answered. "Why do you ask?"

"We can never repay you," Sabine replied. "You saved our only daughter."

"Oh, it was nothing. You don't have to repay me. That Hawk Moth got what was coming to him."

"I can't believe you knew how to disarm the bombs," Kayla's father said. "Did you read through my journals from my time in the bomb squad?" Kayla nodded. "Chica astuta!"

"Urm, anyway," Tom started again. "We run Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie at 12 Rue Gotlib. From now on, anytime you buy from us, Kayla, it's free of charge."

"Gracias, Señor!" Kayla answered with surprise in her voice. "I do worry about the other boy though. Liam."

At that moment, Bridgette walked through the doors, followed by Jagged Stone, the other hostage Laura and Liam's bandmates, Michael, Milo, and Sami.

"Bridgette!" Tom shouted as he walked and hugged his sister. "How's Liam?"

"He's received some cream and bandages for his burn. His face lit up when he said he could still play at the concert."

"Oh, brilliant!" Milo shouted. Everyone turned to his direction. "Sorry."

Tom and Bridgette continued their conversation. "Liam's performing at Jagged Stone's New Year's Concert?" Tom asked.

"Yeah, he's on bass. He panicked because he thought the burn would mean he'd have to pull out, but nope. He's over the moon."

"I'll have to keep a lookout for him." After waiting around, multiple limousines pulled up outside and out emerged all of Marinette and Adrien's classmates, and the Mayor and President with bodyguards. Alya dashed and hugged Marinette tightly, near suffocating her. Nino did the same to Adrien, whilst the other classmates surrounded them, except for Chloe and Sabrina, who stood outside near the door, unnoticed save for Kayla.

"Looks like everything's back to normal," Sabrina said cheerily, only to have her wrist in Chloe's grip and yanked so that they were face to face.

"Normal?" Chloe gritted her teeth. "My daddy's not Mayor anymore and you're celebrating?"

"C-Chloe." Sabrina stuttered in fear. "Hawk M-moth and Fire A-Agh!" Sabrina cried in pain from Chloe's nails digging into her. "Hawk Moth and Fire Ant are finished."

"Strange how Ladybug hasn't shown up yet-Wait, let's not get off track. Why didn't your father try to stop this?!" Chloe's tight grip was bruising Sabrina.

"That video must have been given to Liam's brother. He must have been the one who gave it to their father."

Chloe let go of Sabrina, shoving her to the ground. Sabrina rolled her sleeve up, seeing most of her forearm was bruised and she had marks where Chloe's nails dug into her skin.

"So now what?!" Chloe asked. "At least I've still got the hotel. Liam will pay for this."

"Why?!" Kayla asked, frightening Chloe and Sabrina and making them scream, alerting the others. "Why is Liam going to pay?"

"Because he's ruining my life!"

"You don't need him to do that. You seem to be capable."

"Who are you anyway?"

Marinette, Adrien, Nino, Alya, and Kim came out to see Kayla and Chloe giving each other the death stares and Sabrina on the floor.

"Kayla. The girl who saved your hotel, and knocked out Hawk Moth. So you will show me some respect for saving your home."

Chloe ran to Kim, crying.

"Oh, Kim!" Chloe cried crocodile tears. "She just attacked Sabrina then threatened me!" Kim hugged Chloe, looked at Kayla and grunted.

"No, I didn't! I heard you two arguing and when I came out here, Sabrina was on the ground!"

"Plus, Kayla and Sabrina have never met!" Nino backed the girl up.

"We've met Kayla!" Adrien said. "And I don't think she would attack Sabrina."

"If she didn't attack Hawk Moth, he would have killed us!" Marinette added.

"There's only one person who can tell us the truth." Kayla turned and held her hand out to Sabrina. Sabrina took it and Kayla helped her up to her feet. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yes." The redhead answered.

"Okay, Sabrina. Please don't be afraid, to tell the truth. Who pushed you, and gave you those nasty bruises?"

Sabrina kept going, "Uh," "Er," "Mm." Until she finally gave her answer. "It was Chloe."

Everyone gasped, except Kayla and Sabrina. Kim let go of Chloe and everyone just walked back into the hotel, Kayla keeping her right arm over Sabrina's shoulders and left hand pressing on Sabrina's left shoulder. All of the students looked in her direction. People were whispering. Kayla walked Sabrina to the elevator and took her to one of the floors.

"What happened to her?" Juleka asked.

"I don't know," Rose answered.

"Who was that with her?" Nathaniel asked.

"Kayla Hernandez," Marinette answered. "And she's probably gonna be hailed like Liam for defeating Hawk Moth."

The students gasped.

"SHE defeated Hawk Moth?" Mylene asked.

"Yep. And she disabled the bombs he planted."

"Now, I know you're lying!" Alix said.

"No, she isn't," Adrien replied. "Kayla disarmed the bombs while we distracted Hawk Moth. Her dad used to be in the bomb squad and she looked through his notes. Either way, we'd be dead if she wasn't there. Marinette, Liam and I."

"She's telling the truth," Lila said.

"How do you know?" Alix asked.

"You can't kid a kidder. Liam knows that well."

Nino looked around. "Hey, that's a good point. If Liam was part of the fiasco, where is he?"

"I'm not too sure, he was taken to the hospital because of a burn on his arm, but Bridgette just said he's fine, so he might be on his way back." As the students discussed what had happened, Jagged Stone, Liam's bandmates, and Laura all got into the elevator. The sound of a car pulling up was not heard, but Chloe's reaction was.

"Get lost, Donoko!" The pompous girl shouted. The reply was a voiced disguised in a similar manner to Liam's when a few students visited him, but he now spoke with a German accent.

"Trust me, I vant to pe as far avay from you as bozible, put I haffe vork to do here vith CHagged Sdone, zo deal vith it!" The voice's owner walked in, showing Liam's alternate persona, Scott Donoko. He walked in, leather jacket, steel toe boots, fake goatee, and face half-covered. Félix entered behind him, then Chloe barged in.

"Not talking anymore, Scott?"

Liam stopped, looked over at his friends, then went and called the elevator. "Look, Chloe. Ve may hate each other, put I rememper your mother Audrey."

"You didn't know Audr-"

"Ja, I did. Ein vonderful voman, und effen ven sche valked out, sche pegged for Adrien und me to zubort you. Und efferydime I look at you, I can't help put zee how I failed her." The elevator arrived and the doors opened. "Put at zee zame time, you're alienating efferyone around you, zo I can't zee how ve can help you. In orter for us to help you, you need to help yourzelf." Liam walked in and pressed a button. "Merry Christmas." The elevator closed.

"He's right, you know," Adrien said. Chloe sighed and walked off.

Liam got out of the elevator on his floor and walked along to see Milo and Michael in the corridor.

"Got another call from XY," Milo said. "He's coming to see us."

"God, that prick again?" Liam answered as he walked into the room, seeing Jagged Stone, Kayla, Laura, and Sami practicing some songs. Sami was on the drums, while Kayla was on acoustic guitar and Jagged and Laura were holding Microphones. Liam walked in. "XY's on his way. He called me this morning, I just said 'Jagged doesn't want a baby.' He said that he was older than us, I said 'Then why does it feel the other way around?' Anyway, we'll take out the trash when he gets here."

"I like your thinking," Jagged replied with a grin. "You're the best band for the job."

"We're the only band for the job," Sami responded.

"Everyone's a comedian..." Liam mumbled, then looked at the two girls. "And who are you, fine young ladies?"

Laura walked over to Liam. "I'm Laura. Nice to meet you, Scott. A bit strange with the mask, though."

"The mask keeps people from discovering my true identity."

"You a superhero?" Kayla asked. "You see Liam Rejeter? His sister-in-law was downstairs, and he should be on his way back." Kayla asked. Liam toyed with her.

"What does he look like?"

"Your height. Brown hair. A white, Black and Blue tracksuit. Handsome enough to model for Gabriel Agreste." Liam pulled the mask up.

"Right back at you, gorgeous," Kayla screamed and blushed. "Why hide that pretty face?"

"Are you flirting right now?" Jagged Stone asked, visibly annoyed and rubbing his eyes. "We have a performance to rehearse, here! Get it together. Can't have Bob yelling in our ears."

"Alright." Liam and Kayla said. For the next half hour, the group rehearsed. They performed some of Jagged's classics, plus some Christmas songs popular songs from other artists. After half an hour, Alix, Nathaniel, Marinette, and Adrien had come up with Nathaniel carrying a box containing some presents for Liam. Jagged's assistant Penny was out the front.

"Sorry, but we can't let you in," Penny said. "They're rehearsing."

"Can you at least pass these onto...?" Adrien asked. "I think it's Scott Donoko?" The band stopped playing and began cheering.

"Alright, I gotta take a break," Liam said. "I don't think my friends actually know I'm here."

"Don't take too long." Jagged replied. Liam opened the door and saw his four friends with the presents. "Aw, you shouldn't have." The elevator pinged and Mr. XY appeared. "I'll take these off of you." Liam took the box off of Nathaniel. "Go downstairs and tell our friends, if they have phones, video the elevator. This is gonna be so good!" Liam couldn't stop snickering. The four started walking back to the elevator.

"He's got something planned!" Nathaniel said.

"Wonder if he'll dive into the rooftop pool from a helicopter," Alix responded.

"Let's wait and see," Adrien replied.

"At least I'll get to see it this time," Marinette mumbled. They all went back downstairs and met up with their friends. "Liam's planning something. Get your phones and film the elevator." Everyone grabbed their phones and started filming the elevator. Everyone moved around so that they could all film. The adults began looking at the teens awkwardly.

"What are you guys doing?" Félix asked. The elevator on the right pinged and Liam's friends Michael, Milo and Penny Rolling walked out. "Pardon us, ladies and gentlemen. Michael and Milo went outside and moved a dumpster to the front with the lid open. "Here we go." Everyone turned the cameras towards the elevator next to Penny's and out came the most bizarre thing: Liam, Kayla, and Jagged carrying a tied-up and gagged XY.

"Excuse us!" Jagged said as he and the two teens carried XY. XY was screaming through his gag at the people filming, no one bothered to help him out. They lifted him onto the side of the dumpster and Jagged removed XY's gag. "Anything to say?"

"Dammit, you psycho!" XY shouted. "That guitar neck's rammed up my-" Jagged, Liam and Kayla pushed him into the dumpster before he could finish. Milo and Michael slammed the lid and pushed the dumpster back to where they found it. Jagged, Liam, Kayla, and Penny burst into laughter.

"That!" Liam said. "That -tehehe!- that's gold!"

"He deserved that!" Kayla said. "He pinched Laura's ass."

"Well, he won't be at the concert," Jagged said. "Speaking of which, we got 30 tickets for each of you. Just tell me your friends' names and I'll pass them on."

"Those students over there," Liam answered. "All 13 of them. Sabrina Raincomprix. That's it for me."

"Luka Couffaine, Daniel Cho Lim. This is hard."

"I got three others." Liam interrupted. "Callum, Krystal and Jack Terrence." Everyone began mumbling. "I think we should just slow down right now. We've had a lot happen, but the threats are gone. Let's take a step back and appreciate that we're still alive and ready for the new year." Everyone cheered at Liam's mini-speech, glad that they can finally have some time to feel safe...


	17. That's All For Now

AN: I'd just like to say that this is the final chapter in this story, but there are three others planned. A bunch of one-shot prequels in which Liam bonds with his classmates, a sequel which will essentially be my spin on the season 2 episodes thus far and the third story with no details being revealed. With that said, I'd like to thank you for reading this story and I hope you enjoyed it and will read the next stories.

* * *

Marinette and Adrien were in Jagged Stone's hotel room with Liam and his band, Kayla and Jagged Stone. They watched Liam singing a song when he was interrupted by Penny Rolling.

"Gabriel Agreste has returned." She said, before being shoved aside.

"Just let me in!" Gabriel ordered, shifting past into the room. "Adrien, Stan Billiton's given a full address to find your mother." Adrien gasped in joy. "We're going to get her." Adrien's smile slowly disappeared into a false one.

"Oh, who do I stay with till you get back?"

"You really think I'm gonna make our family complete again without you? You're coming too!"

Adrien was in shock. Marinette chuckled and Liam cheered.

"Whooo! Go and get your mother back, boy!"

Adrien finally finished processing what his father said. "You mean that?"

"Of course, I do. We're going to Hartlepool, England and with luck, we get to be a happy family for Christmas here in Paris." Adrien dashed and hugged his father, who gave him a hug back. "Now we're leaving tomorrow morning. We'll go back to the mansion tonight and pack some extra clothes. If we find her, we wait with her until she's ready to come home." Adrien let go. "Let's go. I want to get you a present." Gabriel walked out and Adrien followed him before turning to Marinette and Liam.

"Goodbye, Liam."

"Goodbye, Adrien." The boy answered.

Adrien walked over to Marinette. "I'll see you tomorrow." Then the next part, Marinette did not expect. Adrien locked lips with her, then let himself go and followed his father. Marinette's cheeks went redder than Nathaniel's hair. Kayla walked over to Marinette and saw she was still in shock.

"Call her friends," Kayla said. Marinette snapped out of it.

"He-he-he..." Marinette stuttered. Liam put his bass guitar down and escorted Marinette to the elevator. He pressed the button on the ground floor. The doors shut and Tikki flew out of Marinette's purse.

"What a rollercoaster!" The little kwami stated.

"It truly was."

"Defeating Hawk Moth, Liam bonding with your friends, Fire Ant arriving, akumas being brought back as heroes, Fire Ant being defeated and Hawk Moth being taken down. Then there's the broken rule..."

"Cat Noir and I found out each other's secret identities. I still can't believe it's him." Marinette stopped. "But who's the real person, Adrien or Cat Noir?"

"There's something else, Marinette," Tikki spoke softly. "You and Adrien were given your Miraculous so that you could defeat Hawk Moth. But now that Hawk Moth is defeated and the Butterfly Miraculous has been returned to my master, I'm afraid..."

Marinette began breathing faster. "...You have to go back as well." Marinette sighed and started tearing up.

"Oh, Marinette..." The elevator stopped and Tikki quickly dashed into Marinette's purse. The door opened and Marinette walked out to her friends. Sabrina was back with them, rubbing her arm where Chloe had bruised it. Only Nathaniel, Alix, Rose, Juleka and Alya were left, everyone else had gone. Alya saw Marinette leaving the elevator, rubbing tears from her eyes.

"Whoa, Marinette!" The blogger said. "Are you okay?"

Marinette sniffled. "I'm okay, Alya. I just..." Marinette needed to think of an excuse. "Adrien's going to England with his dad tomorrow."

"WHAT?"

"No, don't be angry. The thing is..." Everyone was listening.

"The thing is..." Adrien said, emerging from the doors. "Dad and I have found mom. Hawk Moth told him where she is, and there's been a change of plan: we're leaving now."

"Now? Adrien, your dad said upstairs that you were leaving tomorrow."

"We're not waiting anymore. Knightowl said he will fly us there and back before he returns to America. Dad is excited to finally find his wife, and I..." Adrien stopped. "I can't wait. The sooner we find her, the sooner we can bring her back." Adrien walked over to Bridgette and Félix. "Dad wanted me to give you some advice: You've got each other, you've your family. Never let go of them. Keep them close, because you might lose them and, unlike us, you may lose them forever." Adrien then walked back outside to find Gabriel. Marinette turned to her friends.

"Wow. Last Christmas, he gets everyone visiting him and this Christmas, he gets his mother back."

"Things are certainly changing fast," Alya said. "Did you know that Chloe's dad has been removed from the Mayor seat?"

Marinette gasped. "What for?"

"Liam's old man found out about Chloe and the Terrence siblings," Alix said.

"And that the Mayor had blackmailed Mr. Damocles to keep it secret," Nathaniel added. "He hasn't done anything to Damocles, though. Probably doesn't want to because Liam's attending the school."

* * *

As Marinette and her friends talked about Chloe's dad, Gabriel was outside with Adrien, while Nathalie and Mr. Acier were inside their car. Adrien and Gabriel began talking quietly.

"Did the other Quantic Kids know who you and mom were?" Adrien asked.

"Yes," Gabriel answered. "They knew us and we knew them. Your mother, I thought she had left us because of Blitzwolf, but now..." Gabriel sighed.

"Where does Tibet fit in all of this?"

"Tibet?"

"Behind the picture, there was the book, a picture of mom and a book on Tibet."

"Oh, right. The book on Tibet is a whole other can of worms. Something we investigated, but no leads afterward." The sound of a helicopter roared throughout Paris, alerting everyone. Marinette, Alya, Alix, Nathaniel, Rose, Juleka, and Sabrina ran outside, followed by Kayla's parents and brothers and Marinette's parents. The helicopter hovered, then landed on the road. The helicopter was painted brown with Knightowl's logo painted on either side. Knightowl and Birdy got out and walked to Adrien and Gabriel.

"Ready to make your family whole again?" Knightowl asked.

"I've been ready for over a year," Gabriel answered. Adrien, Gabriel, Knightowl, and Birdy got into the helicopter, the doors closing automatically. Everyone was waving them off and Marinette blew Adrien a kiss, one he returned. They all put headsets on. The helicopter lifted off into the air and set off for England.

"We'll be going a lot faster than normal," Birdy said. "We'll be in Hartlepool, England in an hour." In that hour, Adrien kept thinking about the revelations he had found in the past few days.

'Will she recognize me?' Adrien thought. 'Do I tell her about Cat Noir? Will she tell me about Le Paon? And Marinette? **She** was Ladybug the whole time. Do we still need to be Ladybug and Cat Noir now that Hawk Moth is defeated? Maybe we can help Liam? Fire Ant said there were others after the Hornet. The... Hyenas?'

Adrien kept thinking until...

"You okay, son?" Gabriel said through the headsets.

"Oh, er yeah. I'm just thinking about what we say to mom. Do we spill everything, or take it slow? What if she's built a life here and doesn't want to come back?"

Gabriel was silent. "I never thought about that. I don't know what she'll do, but I know one thing: Seeing you will definitely put a smile on her face." As they finished talking, land could be seen ahead.

"There it is!" Birdy exclaimed. "Hartlepool. Did a bit of research and they're known as the Monkey Hangers."

Gabriel and Adrien's faces each had one eyebrow lifted. "Where did they get that name from?" Gabriel asked.

"Apparently during the Napoleonic Wars, a French ship was wrecked off the coast, the only survivor was a monkey wearing the sailor uniform, presumably to amuse the crew. The people who found the monkey never saw a monkey or Frenchman before, so they held a trial and actually questioned the monkey. Poor thing couldn't answer their questions, so they assumed it was a French Spy and hanged it."

"Really?" Adrien said. "That's something to tell the classmates."

"What's the address, Gabriel?" Knightowl asked.

"67 Clamp Road," Gabriel asked. "You have a GPS?"

"Majestia's transmitting coordinates from America." Knightowl was silent for a few seconds. "Right. We're as close as we can get. I'll have to land you here and then we get there on foot." Knightowl landed his helicopter and Adrien and Gabriel got out. "Clamp Road."

Adrien and Gabriel began walking, Gabriel counting the door numbers. "45, 47, 49, 51, 53, 55, 57, five more..." Gabriel took Adrien's hand and ran, stopping at a three-floor house. "This is it," Gabriel said to Adrien. "Adrien, this is where your mother lives."

Adrien and Gabriel's nerves were showing, but Gabriel went to knock on the door. "Dad?" Adrien asked. "What if it's a false lead?"

Gabriel stopped his arm. "Adrien. Your mother's been gone for over a year. Plus, Hawk Moth gave us the precise address. Why give us that information if it's false?" Gabriel knocked on the door. Ten seconds passed, to Adrien and Gabriel, eternity. The door opened, showing an elderly woman with curly silver hair, a red cotton shirt underneath a black sleeveless vest jacket, beige pants and pink slippers.

"Hello?" The woman said.

"Hello, there. Sorry for troubling you Madame, but we are looking for someone and we were told we'd find her here. Her name is Maria Agreste."

"I'm afraid I don't know any Maria Agreste."

Gabriel's heart sank, as did Adrien's. "I see," Gabriel said. "Sorry to bother you, Madame." Gabriel turned around, but Adrien persisted.

"Please, Madame! She's my mother. She's been missing from Paris for over a year."

"Paris?!" The woman asked in surprise. "What's your name, young man? And what does your mother look like?"

"My name is Adrien. My mother has fair skin, green eyes, blonde hair..." Adrien stopped, grabbed his phone from his pocket, unlocked it, and showed the woman a photo of his mother. "That's her." The woman looked, then spoke firmly.

"Come on in." The woman went back inside, leaving the door open for Adrien and Gabriel.

"Thank you, Madame." Adrien and Gabriel walked into the house, closing the door behind them. The house was big. They were standing in a hallway, which had two doors on the right, a staircase on the left and one door straight ahead. The first door on the right led to the dining room, the second door led to the lounge. The door straight ahead had a fireplace, cabinets containing books, a couch, and a chair and table set, with another door leading through to the kitchen, then another one leading to the laundry room. Adrien and Gabriel followed the woman into the lounge.

The woman called out. "Mary! You're not going to believe it."

"What's the problem?" A woman's voice called out, walking out from the laundry room. She was wearing a black blouse with a light pink jacket worn over it. On the jacket, a brooch shaped like a flower with five petals with a pearl in the center was attached. She also wore light pink business pants and black high heel shoes. When she saw Adrien and Gabriel, she froze with her jaw down. "A-Adrien?!" She was on the verge of crying.

"Mom?" Adrien replied. Maria Agreste had been found. The mother and son dashed at each other, then Maria fell to her knees and the two hugged each other tightly. "Mom." Adrien began crying. "I never thought I'd see you again."

"I thought the same thing," Maria replied through tears.

"So did I," Gabriel said. Maria turned her head and saw her husband. She stood up and walked over and kissed him. The two of them were crying. "I thought you'd..."

"Died? I'm surprised I hadn't. Stan Billiton... His family were-"

"I know. We've got a lot to catch up on." Gabriel let go of his wife. "Are you ready to go home?"

Maria pulled her hair away from her face. "I need to notify Edna's sons first. I'm her caretaker." Gabriel nodded. Maria let go and walked to the telephone. Adrien stood up.

"Can I get you two anything?" Edna asked.

"No, Thank You," Adrien answered.

"I'm alright, Thank You," Gabriel responded. "Just so glad to see my love again. I must admit: I never thought she'd be here. We didn't even know this town existed until a couple of hours ago."

"We're not that well known," Edna said. "but we help each other out." Maria returned. "I'll leave you three alone to talk things out." Edna walked out into the kitchen. Maria, Adrien, and Gabriel were sat on the chairs.

"So start from the beginning," Maria said. "How did you find out about Stan Billiton?"

"He's been terrorizing Paris," Adrien answered.

"Trying to lure the Quantic Kids out so that he could dispose of them," Gabriel responded.

"Then why keep me alive?"

"He didn't say."

"I know that he stole the..."

"He used that," Adrien said. "All of my classmates were corrupted. Except for me, a girl named Marinette, and Liam."

"So how did he get caught?"

"Ladybug and Cat Noir returned," Gabriel answered. "Took him down with help from a new hero: the Hornet."

"But with a new hero came a new villain," Adrien added. "Fire Ant/ He put half the school in hospital, then attacked the Quantic Kids at the mansion."

"What?!" Maria interrupted. "Where were you?!"

"Acier took him to the Dupain-Cheng Bakery," Gabriel replied. "Nathalie and I were at the mansion. Fire Ant nearly killed us, but Sparrow saved us."

"When did this happen?"

"Yesterday."

"Yesterday?"

"That's not the end of it," Adrien said. "Earlier today, Hawk Moth attacked Le Grand Paris while Fire Ant attacked the Rejeter family."

"Félix and Bridgette?"

"Yes. Liam Rejeter defeated him and found that Fire Ant was just a kid being controlled. Then Hawk Moth took two girls hostage at Le Grand Paris, threatening to kill them if he didn't get me, Liam and Marinette."

"Marinette?"

"Dupain-Cheng. We did what he said, and he let the girls go, but one stayed and knocked him out. The police took him in and then..."

"...I got to speak to him," Gabriel finished. "And that's how we found you."

Maria processed all of what her husband and her son had told her. "That's... really convoluted. How did you get to Hartlepool though?"

"The same way we're getting back to Paris," Adrien answered. "Knightowl and Birdy."

"Lucas?" Maria whispered.

15 Minutes Later, Edna's sons returned and helped Maria pack her things. After a few minutes, Maria was ready to go home. One son stayed with Edna, whilst the other carried one of Maria's bags to Knightowl's helicopter. The man shook Maria's hand, then she got into the helicopter along with her son. Gabriel waited.

"I can't thank your family enough," Gabriel said. "I'd like to repay you."

"Don't worry about it, sir. You have a Merry Christmas." Gabriel got into the helicopter and Knightowl took off, not giving Gabriel any time to get strapped into his seat. Gabriel was sent backward to the side door and was finally able to get himself onto a seat. Maria and Adrien were able to stop him from falling out.

"Sorry, Lady and Gents," Birdy said. "Knightowl's an idiot."

"You fly then," Knightowl retorted.

"I'm good."

* * *

Knightowl flew back to Paris. The Agreste family couldn't stop smiling at each other. They eventually reached Le Grand Paris, where Mime, Melodie, and Mercury were on the rooftop.

"Are they all...?" Maria asked.

"Yes," Adrien said. "Even Bridgette and Félix are inside, or they were when we left. If Liam's still there, they will be." Knightowl saw Adrien's friends down below. "I hope we don't get bombarded." Knightowl landed on the ground, and contrary to Adrien's prediction, only two people surrounded them: Nathalie and Mr. Acier.

"Mrs. Agreste!" Nathalie exclaimed, "Welcome back."

"Good to see you, Nathalie," Maria said, looking around at her home city. "Not much has changed." Maria looked at Le Grand Paris and saw the teenagers. "Would you like to introduce me to your friends, Adrien?"

"Certainly." The Agreste family walked to the entrance of the hotel, meeting some of Adrien's classmates. Knightowl and Birdy stayed near the helicopter. "Hey everyone! This is my mother, Maria Agreste. Mom, these are some of my classmates. Alya Cesaire, Alix Kubdel, Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Rose Lavillant, Juleka Couffaine, Sabrina Raincomprix, and Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

"Nice to meet you all. Marinette Dupain? Are you related to Bridgette Dupain?"

"She's my aunt," Marinette answered.

"That must make you Liam's cousin!"

Everyone began mumbling in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Before Maria could answer, Bridgette and Félix arrived.

"Maria Agreste!" Bridgette shouted.

"Bridgette Dupain," Maria responded. "Félix Rejeter. Aren't you two married yet?"

"No," Félix answered. "Still not able to find the time. But anyway, it's been... What? 2 Years? What happened?"

"I don't remember much. I remember being in the atelier, then something hit me on the back of my head. The next thing I knew, I was in a hospital in Hartlepool."

"You know if you wanted, we could investigate this. No doubt Stan Billiton is the one who attacked you. I could get a confession from him and he'll have kidnapping added to his charges."

"If He was Hawk Moth this whole time, I don't think it's worth a kidnapping charge if he's already being charged for those attacks."

Bridgette's eyes moved all around. "Shall we go inside? It's bloody cold out here." Bridgette turned around and saw Liam's classmates. "You know, Liam's done with Jagged for the day. He's packing up and coming down and he wants to talk to... one of you." Everyone went back inside the hotel, where Kayla's parents were talking with Marinette's parents and Alya's parents, who had shown up while the Agrestes were overseas. Kayla's little brothers and Alya's little sisters were chasing after each other around the lobby. "I'm gonna get us some coffees. Maria, I think Paige, Jason, and Joshua will want to talk to you, they've got a lot to say." The students went and sat in the seats available. Rose, Juleka, Alya, and Nathaniel sat on chairs, and Alix sat on the arm of Nathaniel's chair. The elevator pinged and out came the Side Swipe band and Kayla. Liam's three friends left, carrying their cases of equipment. Kayla had a guitar case on her back, and Liam was no longer wearing a fake beard or mask, and had a salmon pink bass guitar on his back, the strap over his shoulder. Juleka saw the bass and smiled. Liam and Kayla looked over and walked to Liam's friends.

"Hello, guys," Liam said. "I'd like you to meet the girl who defeated Hawk Moth."

"Kayla Hernandez," Kayla said. "I'm in Miss Bernard's class. I recognize some of you. You're Nathaniel Kurtzberg. Liam told me you designed two characters for Max Kante's Ladybug game."

"It's a Ladybug game?" Nathaniel asked, surprised. "Why not just use real-life villains instead of making new ones?"

"It's called 'Likeness rights'. Can't use somebody's image without permission, but Liam's brother and his fiancee purchased the rights to Ladybug, Cat Noir, Hawk Moth and The Hornet, so they can use them."

"And we do want to use the other villains," Liam said. "But we need permission for the likenesses."

Kayla pointed at Alix. "You're Alix Kubdel, Liam showed me the race you two had. You're a great skater."

"Thanks," Alix responded.

"Good drummer, too," Liam said. Alix smacked Liam's mouth, startling her friends.

"I didn't want our friends to know that, yet."

"Well, we've got a favor to ask about that." Alix raised an eyebrow. "Jagged wants us to play those songs at the concert."

"But the drummer hasn't got a clue how to play them," Kayla added.

"We were hoping that you could play them when the time came."

Alix was flabbergasted. "Play them at the concert?" Liam and Kayla nodded. Alix's classmates gasped. "You know what? I'll do it!" The Teenagers began discussing the concert and Adrien's mother when Liam's father, Bryan returned from a talk with Former Mayor Bourgeois.

"Ah, Liam, Félix." The president said. "I'd like to congratulate you, my sons. Today, Hawk Moth AND Fire Ant were defeated, and I have been given evidence that demands new leadership for this city. It wouldn't have been possible without you two." The hotel butler came into the lobby with three small glasses on a tray, with a bottle of wine. Bryan took the wine and filled each of the glasses, giving one to Félix, but Liam hesitated to take the one that his father offered him.

"I can't dad. I've seen what alcohol can do."

"And one glass is nowhere near enough for that."

"I'm sure I'm under legal drinking age."

"There is no legal drinking age in France."

"But I-"

"How come you don't want a drink, Liam?"

"Because I'm not the only one who needs congratulations." Liam walked over to his friends. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Adrien Agreste, and most of all, Kayla Hernandez." Liam placed his right hand on Kayla's left shoulder, exposing his bandaged wrist. "SHE knocked out Hawk Moth long enough for the police to take him into custody. Hell, she disarmed his bombs, whilst the three of us kept him talking so that he didn't see her. If this hits the headlines, then it should be Kayla who gets the most glory."

"Alright. Congratulations, Miss Hernandez. You'll be seen as a hero like Ladybug and Cat Noir" Bryan stopped. "Actually, where are those two? I know Hawk Moth said he'd set off the bombs if they were here, but why aren't they here now?"

Liam scoffed. "I don't know, fighting crime, saving people from road accidents? If they're not here, it's because they're needed somewhere else."

"Good point. A hero's work is never truly done. Speaking of which, I gotta handle the press. It was a brief reunion, my sons, but a great one also. Until we meet again."

"Likewise." The brothers responded in unison. Bryan and his bodyguards left. Everyone began drinking, the adults had wine, the teenagers had sodas and the children had fruit juice. Eventually, Liam went back up to Jagged Stone's room with Alix, Kayla, and Nathaniel. The four went inside and Liam placed his hands on the drawer, hung his head and sighed in sadness.

"What's wrong?" Nathaniel asked.

Liam recollected himself. "I think I'm..." Liam struggled to find his words. He picked up an open envelope. "I found this in one of the drawers. It's got my name on it." Liam took out its contents and showed it to his friends. On one side, a message in purple ink: Do you know who your 'brother' is?. On the other side, a photograph, showing a woman in a hospital bed holding a newborn baby and a young man sat on the side of the bed, rubbing the baby's forehead. The type of camera used allowed the time and date of the photo to be recorded.

"April 21st, 2001," Alix said. "The day I was born."

"It's also the day I was born. The troubling part is that the couple in the photo aren't Bryan and Sharon Rejeter." Everyone looked at Liam. "It's Félix Rejeter and Bridgette Dupain." Alix, Nathaniel, and Kayla gasped. "Guys, I think I'm their son..."

All four kept that to themselves until Liam was ready. When Christmas Day came, everyone went to the Agreste mansion to celebrate Maria Agreste's return. The new year's concert was a huge success, even when Alix took over as the drummer. Throughout all of those events, Liam kept his discovery secret, even to his cousin, Marinette Dupain-Cheng...


End file.
